US tug owners add escort and LNG tugs as bigger ships and gas terminals arrive

US towage companies from New York to New Orleans are expanding their fleets as larger ships call at the country's harbours and new terminals open. Terminal expansion has allowed containerships of more than 15,000 teu to dock in US ports, and rising demand for LNG is bringing new export terminals and more gas carriers that need tug assistance. The new port tugs are built to ABS class with two diesel engines meeting US Environmental Protection Agency Tier 4 emission standards.

McAllister Towing took delivery in the third quarter of Mary McAllister, the sixth of a seven-tug series built by Washburn & Doughty Associates in Boothbay, Maine. The 28-metre tug has an 84-tonne bollard pull from two Cat 3516E engines driving two azimuth thrusters, and a FiFi1 system that can pump 12,000 gallons of water a minute. It is the 43rd tractor tug in McAllister's fleet and will be based at Port Everglades in Florida. The next, Cathy McAllister, is due in mid-2027.

Which tugs went to the Gulf Coast?

Moran Towing named J Themistoclis Moran in May in Port Arthur, Texas. The 395 gt, 28-metre tug was built by Master Boat Builders in Coden, Alabama, to Robert Allan's RApport 2800 design and is the fourth of its class after William E Moran, Newt Moran and Thomas C Moran. Master Boat Builders also delivered the tug Jane to Moran in the second quarter; it joined the Gulf LNG Tugs fleet in Texas.

In September Bay-Houston Towing took Barbara G, a 30-metre, 413 gt escort tug with a 90-tonne bollard pull, operated by G&H Towing and seen in Galveston and Houston that month. "This vessel adds valuable capability to our operations and further strengthens our ability to provide safe, reliable service to vessels transiting some of the nation's busiest ports," said president Philip Kuebler. Bay-Houston has four more tugs on order at Sterling Shipyard for delivery within two years.

Suderman & Young Towing, which has more than 20 tugs, is starting operations at Brownsville. Master Boat Builders launched Titan, the third H500 escort tug in its series, in the third quarter, after delivering Saturn in the second. Each has a bollard pull of more than 90 tonnes. Two 32-metre RAstar 3200-W tugs with 6,260 kW are under construction at Sterling Shipyard for 2027.

Who is serving the LNG terminals?

Gulf LNG Tugs, a joint venture of Suderman & Young, Bay-Houston Towing and Moran Towing, took delivery in July of Laguna Gulf, a 30-metre, 80-tonne bollard pull tractor tug from Sterling Shipyard that will handle LNG carriers at NextDecade's Rio Grande LNG project in the Port of Brownsville. In March it took Jill, a 28-metre RApport 2800 harbour tug with an 85-tonne bollard pull. Saltchuk Marine and Harbor Docking & Towing have formed Green Tug Towing, which has ordered four RApport 2800H escort tugs from C&C Marine & Repair after winning a 20-year contract to handle Woodside Energy's gas carriers from a base in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

What else is on order?

Eastern Shipbuilding Group has launched three of four 26-metre escort tugs for Saltchuk, for the US West Coast, Hawaii and Alaska. Great Lakes Towing has ordered two more ice-class Damen tugs from its sister yard in Cleveland, for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2027 and the first quarter of 2028. In New Orleans, EN Bisso & Son has taken two harbour tugs, also named Titan and Marauder, on long-term charter from Maritime Partners, which says it has invested nearly $1bn in new vessels at 12 US yards since 2015. Crescent Towing has ordered four 4,475 kW Z-drive tugs from Blakeley BoatWorks for 2027 to 2029, to work in New Orleans, Mobile and Savannah.

This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 29 October 2026.