Smaller tugs give East Coast bunkering company room to maneuver

摘要

Over the past eight years, 21 new Vane Brothers tugs have been delivered from Thoma-Sea Boat Builders, of Houma, La., and Chesapeake Shipbuilding, of Salisbury, Md. Charles Burton is one of six 94-foot, 3,000-hp Sassafras-class vessels built at the Chesapeake yard. It is a smaller version of the 15 100-foot, 4,200-hp Patapsco-dass tugs built at Thoma-Sea. All of the tugs were designed by Frank Basile's company, Entech and Associates in Houma, La.