Mora n’s Mexican De but Is Up and Runni ng s e n o t s e l i M 34 miles north of Ensenada, tug’s motion, thereby preventing snap-loads and Mexico, in Pacific waters breakage. This enables the tug to perform opti - just off the Mexican Baja, mally at safe working loads for the hawser, under Moran’s SMBC joint ven - a very wide range of sea state and weather condi - ture (the initials stand for tions. The function is facilitated by sensors that Servicios Maritimos de Baja continuously detect and automatically compen - California) has been writ - sate for excess slack or tension on the line, by 15ing a new chapter in the company’s history. either spooling or feeding out line in precisely the SMBC, a joint venture with Grupo Boluda amounts necessary to maintain a pre-set standard Maritime Corporation of Spain, has been operat - of tension. ing at this location since 2008. It provides ship To a hawser-connected tug and tanker snaking assist, line handling and pilot boat services to over the crests of nine-foot swells, this equipment LNG carriers calling at Sempra LNG’s Energia is as indispensable as a gyroscope is to a rocket; its Costa Azul LNG terminal. stabilizing effect on the motion of the lines and SMBC constitutes a new maritime presence in vessels gives the mariners complete control. North American Pacific coastal waters. Each of its As part of this capability, upper and lower load tugs bears dual insignias on its stacks: the Moran ranges can be digitally selected and monitored “M”, and Boluda’s “B”. The “B” is as ubiquitous in from the wheelhouse, along with line speed, European and African ports as Moran’s insignia is tension and scope-out feedback. Under optimal on the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. The partner - weather conditions and smooth seas, the winch is ship is further reflected in the names of the tugs, capable of render-recover speeds of up to 100 which are preceded by the letters SMBC. meters per minute. Mounted on the foredeck, it Based at the Port of Ensenada, SMBC com - is an extra-large, in-line unit, specifically designed prises four ocean escort tugs and several support to handle escort operations through a single vessels. It is managed by Captain Miguel Mock- bow staple. abee, a master mariner whose more than twelve A single automatic level wind serves both of years of general cargo sailing experience includes the winch’s drums. Each drum has a capacity of a stint as general manager of marine operation s/ 656 feet of 10-inch, UHMW-PE soft line, a high- Latin American service for Hapag-Lloyd, the ship - strength, low-stretch Plasma rope manufactured ping conglomerate. Mockabee oversees a modest from Honeywell Spectra fiber by Cortland Puget office staff of six and 47 professional mariners. Sound Rope, in Anacortes, Washington. Costa Azul, he says, presents a special chal - O lenge for escort tugs. Located on a remote but exposed section of Baja coastline, it frequently The winch, as they say in Hollywood, has gotten experiences sea conditions that produce nearly major press. But the tug itself is hardly less im- 10-foot swells. To ensure the safe handling of LNG pressive. Moran and Boluda had four of the class carriers calling at the terminal, SMBC’s tugs need - built — identical sisters — at Boluda’s world- ed to be of a radically new design that would renowned shipbuilding subsidiary, Union Naval provide not only exceptional power, but also Shipyard, of Valencia, Spain. The first tug to be exceptional towing capabilities. completed, the SMBC Monterrey , was delivered to Moran and Boluda turned to the naval archi - Ensenada in April 2009. Sister tugs SMBC tecture firm Robert Allan Ltd., of Vancouver, Tijuana , Mexicali , and Rosarito followed soon after. British Columbia, for a solution. The vessel the All four are FiFi-1 escort tugs. Design require - architects delivered, an enhanced RAstar 3200 ments stipulated that in addition to being able Class, answered Sempra’s needs and in the to operate in significant swells, each vessel and process expanded the envelope of escort tug its winch had to be able to provide a sustained perform ance, Mockabee says. Its most ground - bollard pull of 75 tons, throughout the approach breaking innovation is a computer-assisted, ren - to the terminal. And each tug had to weigh less der-recover hawser winch designed and built by than 500 GRT, a specification that influenced the Markey Machinery in collaboration with Robert Allan. According to Markey, it is the most ad- vanced high-performance electric winch afloat, Opposite page: The SMBC Mexicali assisting the and the first of its kind. The company describes it LNG carrier Tangguh Towuti . as a double-drum “waterfall” design , the most powerful and responsive unit it has ever built. The Next page, top: The Mexicali escorting the Towuti winch’s most outstanding feature is a unique ren - into the terminal. der-recover system that automatically keeps the Next page, bottom: The view from the foredeck of line tension constant, compensating for the the Mexicali . 35 overall architectural configuration in ways that sels and equipment like the Costa Azul RAstars included a shortening of the forecastle. require specialized crew training, and SMBC hired To meet the offshore seakeeping requirement, MarineSafety International (MSI), a world leader Robert Allan relied on its RAsta r hull form, which in ship simulator training, to help. The company, incorporates a double-chine hull, chined sweep - based in New York, runs a ship simulator center in ing stern and a large forward-fitted escort skeg to Newport, Rhode Island. It worked closely with enhance indirect towing capability and roll stabil - Sempra LNG to develop computer simulations ity. This proven design was further improved by for the new terminal, and training programs for increasing the size of the tugs. According to its SMBC’s mariners. The incorporation of the new designers, the RAstar design exhibits less than vessels and winch technology into the simulations half the rolling motion and roll acceleration of proved to be a unique challenge, Mockabee says. comparably sized standard tug hulls. To meet it, MSI engineers gathered black box data For main propulsion, the SMBC tugs have twin from the tugs and their winches, then refined the MTU-16V4000 M71 engines rated at 3,300 horse - simulations by meticulously comparing the real- power at 2,000 rpm. Each drives a Rolls Royce world data to the simulator’s database. model US255 fixed-pitch Z-drive through a Towing Solutions, of Spring Hill, Florida, Lufkin MV1600S reduction gear and a hollow a maritime consultant specializing in LNG es- carbon-fiber intermediate shaft, with no line bear - cort systems, was also enlisted to train the ings, delivering a speed of about 13.5 knots. SMBC mariners. Auxiliary power is provided by four diesel/gen- O erator sets: two rated at 125 kW for normal ship services, and two dedicated to the tugs’ Nijhuis At its opening, Energia Costa Azul was the first firefighting pumps, monitors and winches. operational LNG receipt terminal on the West Additional deck equipment aboard the tugs Coast of North America. Including plan ning and includes a 7.5 kW, WEPC-14 construction, it was seven anchor windless, a 15 kW , years in the making. It re- CEP-60 Markey capstan To a hawser- ceived its first shipment of winch astern, and a large connected tug and LNG, from Qatar, in April H-bitt aft. 2008, aboard the LNG car - Three additional vessels tanker snaking over rier Al Safliya (at the time, a round out the current new, state-of-the-art tanker). SMBC fleet: two line-han - the crests of 9-foot That first call was followed dling boats, and a pilot swells, this equipment by a second shipment from launch. All three were built Trinidad, aboard the carri - by Nichols Diversified In- is as indispensable er Bluesky . As of June 2010, dustries in Freeland, Wash- seventeen LNG carriers ington. Made of aluminum, as a gyroscope is to have delivered their cargo the boats were built to ABS a rocket. safely and on schedule to and IMO specifications. Costa Azul with the support The line-handling boats, of SMBC vessels and crews. the Lupita and Adelita , are used to transfer tankers’ The operation reflects SMBC’s commitment mooring cables to the terminal’s mooring dol - to new technology and training, which are essen - phins. They are identical 45-foot aluminum boats, tial elements in the company’s growth strategy for powered by twin Volvo Penta D9 425-hp marine its LNG activities business segment, Mockabee says. diesels with Twin Disc 5082A 2.53:1 gears turning In addition to its long-term contract with Energía 32 x 2 8, 5-blade Nibral propellers. With a run - Costa Azul, SMBC is also providing services at the ning speed of 16.9 knots, the boats are nimbly terminal to Shell Mexico Natural Gas, Sempra maneuverable, economical, and designed to oper - LNG Marketing Corporation, Tangguh LNG, and ate in moderate-to-heavy sea conditions. Gazprom LNG. The third boat, the Panchita , serves the termi - The natural gas processed at the terminal sup- nal as a dedicated pilot launch. It is basically iden - plies markets in Mexico, California, and the Amer- ti cal to the line-handling boats, except for the ican Southwest, and is helping to meet rising inclusion of a man-overboard platform and deck- demand generated by economic growth in Mexico boarding ladder. and depleting reserves in the U.S. As the LNG O industry expands, the need for new tugs and skilled mariners to assure the safe delivery of A tugboat, Mockabee says, is ultimately only as LNG will expand with it.