FMT Shipyard Building Towboats For Florida Marine

FMT Shipyard & Repair, the vessel construction and repair arm of Mandeville, La.-based Florida Marine Transporters, is currently working on the third and fourth in a series of five towboats it is building for Florida Marine. The first was the mv. Jesse D. Pasentine, a 120-foot, 4,000 hp. twin-screw towboat that the shipyard delivered in October 2017. The second was the mv. Gianna Hull, which hit the water last November.

The four-deck towboats measure 120 feet by 35 feet with a draft of 11.5 feet. The vessels boast 4,000 hp. by way of two Caterpillar 3512C Tier 3 main engines and two John Deere 6090 175 kw. generators. The main engines are mated to Twin Disc 5600DR reduction gears. They turn two 100- by 69-inch Sound propellers.

Chip Stiebing, FMT Shipyard’s general manager, said, “We will deliver the third boat in May and the fourth in December.”

Opened in 2009 to maintain Florida Marine’s fleet of towboats, FMT Shipyard & Repair has since evolved into building new boats, while continuing its vessel repair business for both Florida Marine and third-party customers. Most recently the shipyard has been busy with tank barge ISEs and bringing vessels into Subchapter M compliance.