Tug and barge vs ship.

Discussion board focusing on Great Lakes Shipping Question & Answer. From beginner to expert all posts are welcome.
Colin

Re: Tug and barge vs ship.

Unread post by Colin »

I am familiar with the advantages of a tug and barge but am trying to get some info on disadvantages. If Anyone has details of others as well as the extra drag i would be interested in those as well. On the drag front anyone have an answer based on the best connection system? and on that note how do the different systems compare on that front?
Mate

Re: Tug and barge vs ship.

Unread post by Mate »

it depends on which locking system is used wether JAX, Blodworth, interlocking, Etc..the fuel consumption would be different for each system. However, the place the company will save the most money is the crewing requirements. if they unman the barge as little as 7 crew will be required for the same job that once required around 20 when she was a ship
colin

Tug and barge vs ship.

Unread post by colin »

Does anyone know how great the loss of hydrodynamic efficiency is of a tug barge combination when compared with a comparable ship? I know this is of course extremely based on the specifics of the vessel but are there any general rules?
T put it another way if you were to take a ship, notch her, and put a tug with same horse power (and engines of the same efficacy) with her what would the increase in fuel consumption be?
Thank you.
Post Reply