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hauled cargoes up into Alaska. So we took those barges into Asia and now they’re on a six month contract over there.” Yet another challenge is new emissions regula- tions and the rising cost of fuel. “We’ve got more regula- tions coming along on air emissions. We’re exploring ways we can meet the requirements in the ECA zone which is basically surrounding the U.S., and all of North America, for that matter. We can’t burn the types of fuels we’ve been burning in medium-slow speed engines. We have to switch to low sulfur and lower particulate fuels.” “The real crux in the industry is going to be the cost of fuel,” Crowley said. The new emissions requirements are “going to increase the cost of diesel across the board. Any refined product is going to become more expensive because the demand for refined products is going to go up greatly over the next five years. So it basically raises the cost of doing business. In the environment we find our- selves in, that’s a tough combination — to have the top line under pressure and the cost under pressure at same time.”However, Crowley said, “I think we’re fairly well positioned to weather the storm. We’ve invested heavily in new technology and new vessels. We have dual fuel capa- bilities. We’ve known this was coming and we want to be ahead of the curve.” The new double hull barges Crowley recently christened for Western Alaska and the double hull ATB fleet nearing completion are part of Crowley’s con- tinuing fleet upgrade. “We’ve been able to keep the equip- ment chartered and able to deploy it in new markets.”In addition, Crowley said, “we’ve got some new offshore tugs under construction that will be much more powerful than the tugs we currently have. These are zero discharge ves- sels, able to contain their own waste water and travel 30 plus days under full load.” These new Ocean Class vessels are 10,000 hp with a bollard pull of at least 150 tons. Delivery of the first in the series is expected by the end of 2011. Leadership Edition 40 MN June 2011 A rendering of Crowley’s Ocean Class Tug Images courtesy Crowley Maritime Corporation
