The Dispatcher's Desk

On this page, you can find links to many tugboat and barge outfits.  We have information on how to get started in the tugboat industry and, for those already employed aboard tugs, how to move up from within.

 

 

Find an outfit in this list.
Choose by company location or where you are able to travel for work.  Please report broken links here.

BALTIMORE
Krause Marine Towing - Moran - McAllister

BOSTON HARBOR

BRITISH COLUMBIA

CANADA MARITIMES
Itinerante Marine

CARIBBEAN 

DELAWARE RIVER
Wilmington Tug

EAST COAST
Biblia Marine Towing - Moran

FLORIDA
Seabulk Towing

GULF COAST
Cenac Towing - Gulf Atlantic Towing - Marquette Transportation Company

GREAT LAKES

HAMPTON ROADS, VA
Robbins Marine - Intracoastal Marine Moran - McAllister

INLAND RIVER SYSTEM
ARTCO - Cenac Towing - Higman Marine - Ingram Barge Company - Kirby Corporation - Marquette Transportation Company - Parker Towing Company - Settoon Towing

LONG ISLAND SOUND
Gateway Towing

LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER
ARTCO - Cenac Towing - Higman Marine - Ingram Barge Company - Marquette Transportation Company - Settoon Towing

NATIONWIDE
Kirby Offshore Marine - Penn Maritime - Crowley

NEW YORK AREA
Moran

PACIFIC COAST

TEXAS PORTS
Moran - Settoon Towing

WORLDWIDE
Gulf Atlantic Towing

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Penn Maritime had been safely transporting asphalts and residual oils using articulated tug and barge units in the Gulf, Caribbean, Atlantic, and beyond for over 20 years until they were purchased by the Kirby Corporation in 2012.  They will forever have a place of honor here at Tugboats Online.


ARTCO, American River Transportation Corporation, operates line-haul vessels, harbor boats, covered hopper barges, and tank barges on the Lower Mississippi, Upper Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio River.





Biblia Inc. operates four tugs out of Savannah, GA on jobs all over the East Coast.

Blessey Marine Services operates an inland tank barge and towing vessel fleet.


Cenac Marine operates an inland push boat and tank barge fleet within the US Inland Waterways System.


Crowley Maritime operates tugs, barges, and ATB's on every coast of the US, Puerto Rico, and South America.  To date, they are an SIU affiliated outfit.


Gateway Towing owns and operates a fleet of eleven tugs and barges to transport cargoes to all ports from Maine to Texas to Puerto Rico.


Gulf Atlantic Towing provides worldwide ocean towing and transportation services.


Higman Marine is a provider of inland marine transportation services for bulk liquid petroleum and chemical cargoes. The fleet is comprised of 74 push-boats and barges.


Ingram Barge Company (IBCO) is been a towboat and barge company on the inland waterways.


Intracoastal Transportation is a full-service marine service provider with state-of-the-art technology and equipment, and experienced crews.


Itinerante Marine is a full service marine company specializing in tugs and barges, performing transportation, ship assist, pollution control, firefighting standby, dredging, salvage, rescue, and commercial or technical diving services on the Lakes around Toronto.


INLAND
Kirby Inland Marine operates the nation's largest fleet of inland tank barges and towing vessels on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, the Mississippi River System, the Illinois River, the Ohio River and numerous other waterways.

OFFSHORE
Kirby Offshore Marine operates offshore petroleum transportation divisions on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts, Alaska, and Hawaii.


Krause Marine Towing has a fleet of six tugs specializing in ship docking and barge towing needs in the Port of Baltimore and Chesapeake Bay.


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Marquette Transportation Company is a marine towing contractor with a fleet of 18 offshore and inland tugs operating on the Gulf of Mexico, Eastern Seaboard, Caribbean, Mexico, and the entire US inland waterway system.


McAllister Towing & Transportation operates a fleet of more than 70 tugboats and barges in 17 locations along the U.S. East Coast from Portland, ME to San Juan, PR.


Moran provides marine towing and transportation services with 95 tugs and 30 barges on East Coast of the United States and the Gulf Coasts.


Parker Towing Company, Inc. operates a towboat fleet on the Black Warrior, Tennessee-Tombigbee, Tennessee, Cumberland Rivers, East Canal Waterways, and points such as Minneapolis, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Houston.


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Robbins Maritime provides professional shipyard assistance, barges, tugboats, launch and pilot services.


Seabulk Towing provides harbor ship assist operations and offshore towing services along the Gulf Coast and the Southeastern Seaboard.


Settoon Towing operates throughout the inland waterways, specializing in liquid cargo as well as other marine services.  They have fifty push boats and over eighty tank barges operating from three locations.


Wilmington Tug operates a fleet of ship docking tugs on the Delaware River and Bay.  Some of these are tractor tugs.


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FREE ENTRY LEVEL TRAINING HERE

Here is an opportunity to get into the maritime industry for nothing but some time and patience.  This is an excellent stepping stone toward a tugboat career.

  The short explanation is simple:  You sign up, get accepted, take a trip ($) to Baltimore where the school picks you up. You go to the school, get uniforms ($), go to class for a while, go to an internship at sea, come back to school, pick your favorite department, train some more, get your endorsement, and then go to a vessel.  From there, you can look at tug outfits for further employment.  The pay while at school is "three hots and a cot."  You're well taken care of.

Check it out here.

($) = Your dime.


Here's a guide to help you get started in the tugboat industry.  The questions are easy to navigate and will ask you the same things we would if you called us up.  You can first see if you'd like to try it out and then you can choose a route to follow- inland or offshore.

Start Employment Guide

 

 

Millennium Maritime 
Operates a fleet of state of the art tugs in the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbors.

Smith Maritime 
Deep sea tugboats operating primarily between the U.S. and Caribbean & South America, offering ocean & coastal towing, and salvage and rescue services.

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Gaelic Tugboat Company 
Providing general towing, ship docking, dry and bulk oil transport.

McKeil Marine 
Operates more than 45 Canadian flagged vessels ranging in size from 180 HP shallow draft workboats to 6000HP ocean going tugs.

Vane Brothers Company 
Providing a wide range of maritime services in the Port of Baltimore and down the Chesapeake Bay to Hampton Roads Virginia, from water to fuel to marine safety and services, but best known for their bunkering services.

Acushnet Towing and Transportation 
Currently operates two harbor and coastal tugs in the Boston area.  In addition to tugs, they also operate small boats and barges, a welding service, and shore support for marine construction operations.

Boston Towing and Transportation 
T
he largest New England-based marine transportation company providing regularly scheduled petroleum transport, ship docking and general and specialized towing services.  (NMU)

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New York State Marine Highway Transportation Company 
Based in Troy, NY on the Hudson River shipping direct and project cargo between inland and coastal ports via the New York State Canal System.

Reinauer Transportation Companies 
Large company operating tugs, barges and ATB's in the transportation of a wide variety of petroleum products.  (Local 333)

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Dunlap Towing Company 
Based in LaConner, Washington, Dunlap Towing has steadily grown into an operation of twenty-five tugboats, seven barges, and more than 225 employees in a variety of ocean towing markets. These include the barging of general cargo, containerized cargo, oil, and wood chips (fibers). The company also operates a ship assist service in Dutch Harbor, AK.

Foss Maritime  Large marine towing outfit out of the Seattle/Tacoma area operating tugs and barges on the entire west coast of the US.

Hodder Tugboat Company, LTD. 
Specializes in log and barge towing on the North Arm Fraser River in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.  Working on the southern coast of B.C. towing from the Washington coast to Alaska with a fleet of 5 tugs and a water taxi.

Olympic Tug and Barge, Inc. 
Providing general towing, ship docking, dry and bulk oil transport.

Western Towboat Company 
Since 1948, they've been operating tugs and barges from Puget Sound to the Aleutian Islands, from Arctic Alaska to the Hawaiian Islands, and to the Panama Canal.  They provide customers with one of the most modern, custom designed and built tug and barge fleets on the West Coast.

 

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