Crowley adds ATB to fleet

Crowley adds ATB to fleet    Crowley Maritime Corp. on Friday christened the eighth of 10 new 185,000-barrel articulated tug-barge tank vessels that the company will take delivery of by 2011.
   The vessels christened in Tampa were the tug Achievement and barge 650-8. The vessel is scheduled to visit Tampa once a week as it carries petroleum products for Marathon Oil Corp.
   “With the introduction of this ATB to the market, we can claim over 2 million barrels of capacity in the Jones Act ATB trade,” said Rob Grune, senior vice president and general manager of petroleum transportation. “We have added 12 vessels since the inception of this program in 2002 and have five more under construction.”
   An ATB has an articulated, or hinged, connection system between the tug and barge.