Steiner Construction Company Delivers Mv. Angela M. Aldrich
At its yard at Bayou La Batre, Ala., Steiner Construction Company recently completed another vessel, this one an 88- by 34-foot, 2,600 hp. towboat for Evansville (Ind.) Marine Service Inc. Built on a design of Farrell & Norton, the twin-screw boat was delivered June 16 and is named the mv. Angela M. Aldrich after the company’s matriarch, who, along with her husband, Bob, bought the harbor service in 2008.
The company’s roots go back to 1994 when Paul Legeay sold Evansville Barge & Marine Service to Steve Grantz and Tom Moosburger, who expanded it over the years. The Aldriches’ involvement goes back to 2001, seven years prior to their taking sole ownership. At that time, the company operated 16 vessels providing harbor services in Rockport, Yankeetown, and Evansville, Ind.; and Owensboro and Henderson, Ky.
In 2012, Evansville Marine bought the assets of another fleeting service, Ohio Valley Marine Service, growing the EMS fleet from 16 to 25. The additional nine vessels ranged from 165 to 1,750 hp. The purchase also included 13 barges, three crane barges, a small drydock, a fuel flat and several fleeting areas including one at Ohio River Mile 784, near the mouth of the Green River.
After selling and buying several vessels during the ensuing years, the EMS fleet now numbers 28, the newest and largest, most powerful vessel being the Angela M. A similarly sized towboat is currently under construction at Steiner to be delivered later this year. It will be named the mv. Robert Aldrich.
“As a whole, our company is trying to build a fleet with newer vessels and do away with some older vessels to better prepare ourselves for the longevity of the company, moving forward with Subchapter M,” Bob Aldrich told The Waterways Journal in an earlier interview. “We’re taking steps every day to make sure we are here for our customers in the long haul.”
The company is now run by his son, Kyle Aldrich, who started out as a deckhand in 2007, and worked as a dispatcher, then sales manager before being named executive vice president in 2017 and later president in 2022.
Since the Aldriches took over, the full-service harbor company has expanded from under 100 employees to about 170, with nine different locations and its own harbor boats, live-on boats and shipyards with drydocks and three barge-cleaning facilities.
The new Angela M. Aldrich’s propulsion comes from twin Tier 3 Cummins QSK38 marine engines with an unrestricted continuous duty of 1,300 hp. each at 1,800 rpm. The engines turn 80- by 52-inch Sound propellers on 8-inch shafts with Simplex seals and Johnson Duramax bearings. Reduction is by Twin Disc MGX 5600 gears with a 6.04:1 ratio furnished by Sewart Supply.
Supplying auxiliary power are two Cummins 99 kW generators. The engines are cooled by Duramax keel coolers. The boat’s four flanking and two steering rudders are controlled by an electric-over-hydraulic steering system from Gulf Coast Air & Hydraulics, which also supplied the vessel’s alarm system. Stump jumpers were installed to protect the props, and a remote operating station is located in the engineroom.
The vessel has tankage for 38,560 gallons of fuel, 10,600 gallons of potable water, 25,280 gallons of ballast water, 1,700 gallons of dirty oil, 790 gallons each of lubricating oil and gear oil, and 75 gallons of hydraulic oil. It has a 8.6-foot draft when fully loaded.
The Angela M has comfortable accommodations for a crew of eight. The engineer’s stateroom has a single berth with built-in storage and a wooden desk. The two crew’s rooms each have a double berth with a shared head, vanity cabinet, medicine cabinet and lockers, the two single crew rooms have full-sized berths, and the Texas deck stateroom has a full-size berth with an adjoining shower and toilet. The deckhouse has Spanish cedar trim and white Pebble FRP on all walls and overhead. There is a split-type air conditioning and heating system with separate head units. There is a Seahorse 12-man wastewater system.
The spacious galley features a free-standing refrigerator and freezer and a 30-inch stainless steel range. The mess area table can seat seven crewmen comfortably. The hardwood cabinets and island cabinet are covered with granite counter tops.
Wheelhouse Electronics furnished the pilothouse, which has 34.6-foot eye level, with two Koden radars and a Koden AIS system, Furuno depth recorder, and Furuno bridge navigational watch alarm system. Standard Horizon provided the VHFs and loud hailer system.
On deck are two 40-ton Wintech winches. There is Schuyler fendering around the entire perimeter of the vessel. Fire safety equipment is from Hiller Systems.
Caption for top photoL The 2,600 hp. Angela M. Aldrich is the newest and largest vessel in the Evansville Marine Service fleet.
