Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. is pleased to announce the launch of the escort/Rescue ZDrive Tug AVA M. McALLISTER for McAllister Towing & Transportation Company, Inc. on December 7, 2018, 58 days after Hurricane Michael devastated the Florida Panhandle. This Escort/Rescue Z-Drive Tug design provided by Jensen Maritime Consultants is currently under construction at Eastern’s Allanton facility. The vessel arrived at Eastern earlier this year and is scheduled to deliver the 2nd quarter of 2019.

Present at the launch was the Owners’ onsite representative, Jamie Thibodeaux of McAllister Towing with Eastern’s project manager Patrick D’Isernia. The AVA M. McALLISTER (ESG Hull #222) is from the same 100’ Z-drive tug design provided by Jensen Maritime Consultants of Seattle, WA as the ROSEMARY McALLISTER (ESG Hull #224) and the upcoming CAPT. JIM McALLISTER ESG Hull #223), tugs constructed at Eastern. The ROSEMARY McALLISTER was recently honored as one of the Significant Boats of 2018 by WorkBoat Magazine, at the 2018 International Workboat Show in New Orleans. The lead vessel of this four (4) vessel series is the CAPT. BRIAN MCALLISTER delivered in the summer of 2017 built by Horizon Shipbuilding, Inc.

The AVA M. McALLISTER Escort/Rescue Z-Drive Tug features the following characteristics:
ESG Hull #222: 3rd Vessel in the Series of 4
Dimensions (Overall): 100’ x 40’ x 16’-4”
Total Horsepower: 6,771 HP
Main Engines: (2) Caterpillar 3516E 3386 HP @ 1800 RPM, Tier 4 EPA Certified Marine Propulsion Diesel Engines
Main Propulsion: (2) ABS Schottel SRP-4000 Z-Drives Fixed Pitch Drop-in Tubs
Main Generators: (3) Caterpillar C7.1 Turbocharged, each rated at 118kW @ 1,800 RPM
Firefighting: (2) Caterpillar C18 Tier 3 EPA Certified Marine Auxiliary Diesel Engine
(2) FFS Model 1200LBS Monitors, Min of 5,284 GPM
Hawser Winch: (1) Markey Machinery Series DESF-48-100 Single Drum Hawser Winch, Bow mounted
Towing Winch: (1) Markey Machinery Series TES-40 Single Drum Tow Winch or approved equal, Stern mounted
Classification: ABS  A1 Towing, Escort, AMS, FFV-1, Ice Class “D0”, but without ABS notation, EPA Tier 4
Flag: United States of America