HFL Orders 11 Towboats From Two La. Shipyards
“Laissez les bons temps rouler” may be an apt phrase to describe not only Mardi Gras, recently celebrated, but also the extreme good fortune of two Louisiana shipyards: Eymard Marine Construction & Repair in Harvey and Intracoastal Iron Works in Bourg.
Together, they have received the go-ahead to build an unprecedented number of towboats for Nashville, Tenn.-based Hines Furlong Line (HFL). Eymard will build seven, while Intracoastal has orders for four.
Six of the Eymard vessels will measure 67-1/2 by 28 feet and have 1,600 hp., three decks, including a fleet deck, an open stern and four staterooms. The seventh will have 2,400 hp., measure 78 by 34 feet and have four decks, a fleet deck and a closed stern.
Three of the Intracoastal boats, to have 2,400 hp. each, will be 78 feet long and 34 feet wide with a fleet deck and closed stern. The fourth, also at 2,400 hp., will be an 87-foot-long, single deck, retractable towboat with a closed stern.
The power train for the new boats, which were all designed by Entech, will consist of Mitsubishi S6R2 Tier 3 main engines turning 72- by 64-inch Hung Shen propellers through Reintjes WF570 gears with a 6:1 ratio from Karl Senner.
The boats will be delivered over a two-year period starting this March, according to HFL President Kent Furlong, who added, “These vessels will enter our leased fleet where they will be available for bareboat charter by other operators.”
Both shipyards are small, family-owned companies whom Furlong said “we really enjoy working with.”
“This is our first project with Eymard,” he said. “We have been working with Intracoastal for many years.”
The first boat from Eymard will be named mv. Sun Valley, while the Intracoastal vessel will bear the name Donny Mudgett, Furlong said.
Let the good times roll!
Featured image caption: Intracoastal Iron Works launches a towboat bound for Hines Furlong Line from its Bourg, La., shipyard. (Photo courtesy of Intracoastal Iron Works)
