Harley Marine starts construction of two more tractor tugs

New tugs will be sisters to Lela Franco and Michelle Sloan

MAY 4, 2016 — Harley Marine Services, Seattle, WA, has announced the start of construction of two new “enhanced” RAmparts 2400 Z-drive tractor tugs at the Diversified Marine shipyard in Portland, OR.

The two new shp handling vessels will be sister class vessels to the Michelle Sloan and Lela Franco and will enhance the company’s fleet presence on the West Coast.

Each will have a length of 80 ft, a beam of 36 ft and a depth of 16 ft 8 in and be capable of producing 70 short tons of bollard pull, with twin CAT 3516, Tier 3 propulsion engines developing a total of approximately 5,200 horsepower, and two Caterpillar C7.1, Tier 3 generators.

The vessels are each equipped with a Markey bow winch, a barge handling stern winch, and Shibata fendering.

Sound proofing material has been added to the bulkheads and decks to improve the quality of life onboard the vessels.

A closed-circuit TV (CCTV) system will be installed in the engine rooms and can be accessed from the wheelhouse or ashore for management to monitor.

The tugs will be named Rich Padden and Dr Hank Kaplan for long serving Harley Marine Services board member and community leader Richard Padden and cancer researcher Dr. Hank Kaplan of Swedish Cancer Institute.

A member of the Harley board for 30 years, Mr. Padden sits on the Rainier Scholars’ Board of Trustees, which strives to eliminate barriers for students of color that do not have the same access to educational advancement opportunities as their peers. Additionally, Mr. Padden and his wife Laurie were original co-founders of the Cystic Fibrosis Seattle Guild, which has raised over $100,000,000 for CF research.

Dr. Kaplan is a leader in the battle against cancer whose Kaplan Cancer Research Fund was started in 1984 after he received grants while researching experimental drug trials. Harley Marine’s annual golf tournament has raised an additional $1.5 million so that Dr. Kaplan can continue his life-saving research.

“These two gentleman are true champions of great causes and friends of Harley Marine Services. We are honored to name these vessels after them,” said Harley Franco, Chairman and CEO of Harley Marine Services.