TVA To Sell Mv. Freedom Via Online Auction

It’s not every day a towboat comes up for auction online. But for anyone in the market for a new-to-you towboat, bidding is open for the mv. Freedom at govdeals.com, an auction site that specializes in the sale of government and educational assets.

The mv. Freedom is a twin-screw towboat built in 1985 by Patti Industries Inc. in Pensacola, Fla. It measures 100 feet by 28 feet, with a moulded depth of 10 feet and a draft of 6.5 feet. The vessel features a pair of GM 16V-92 main engines that produce 1,200 hp. The engines are mated to Twin Disc gears that turn wheels in kort nozzles. The mv. Freedom has accommodations for nine crew members.

The Freedom has a long history of faithful government service. From the shipyard, the Freedom—originally named the George W. Britton—went to the Huntington (W.Va.) Engineer District, where it served the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Ohio and Kanawha rivers for 21 years. The Tennessee Valley Authority, headquartered in Chattanooga, Tenn., took possession of the vessel in 2006 and renamed it the Freedom. Since then, the Freedom has operated out of Muscle Shoals, Ala., on the Tennessee River.

A 2020 hull inspection of the mv. Freedom found that “loss of material thickness by corrosion was determined to be minimal.” Hull thickness ranged from 5/16 of an inch (originally 3/8 of an inch) to a half inch, which amounted to “little to no loss due to corrosion.” A copy of the hull inspection is available on the auction site.

Potential bidders are required to place a $5,025 bid deposit (including a nonrefundable $25 fee) prior to placing a bid. Bidders must have an active Govdeals account to place a bid. Bid deposits must be wired to Liquidity Services Operations LLC’s account at Wells Fargo Bank. Further bidding instructions are available on the auction site.

A 3 percent buyer service fee must be paid within 48 hours of the auction’s end time. Once that is paid, the buyer must pay the remaining amount within five business days of the auction’s end time.

According to the auction’s terms and conditions, the vessel must be moved within 10 business days of “the time and date of issuance of the buyer’s certificate unless otherwise specified in material description.”

Complete terms and conditions, along with a video and more than 100 photos, are available at govdeals.com. Search for TV-77600.

The opening bid for the mv. Freedom was $200,000. At press time, the towboat had garnered three bids, and the current bid stood at $650,000. Further bidding must be made in $1,000 increments.

The auction for the mv. Freedom ends February 27 at 1 p.m. central time.

Caption for photo: The mv. Freedom, most recently operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, is for sale in an online auction.