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Freshly painted at Menominee, MI, Apr. 7, 2008.	Dick Lund

-- Great Lakes Fleet Page Vessel Feature -- Victory --

By George Wharton

The keel was laid for this articulated pusher tug at the McDermott Shipyard, Morgan City, LA on February 21, 1981 as their hull # 259.  The tug was launched April 21, 1981 and christened Victory for Texaco Marine Services, Port Arthur, TX.  Records show the ownership of the tug passing to Signet Marine, Houston, TX in June of 1990 with Texaco Marine still acting as managers of the vessel.  In January of 2001, Penn Maritime Inc., Stamford, CT acquired the ownership and management of the tug operating it primarily from their Slidell, LA location.  The Victory pushed a 200,000 barrel petroleum barge serving mainly Gulf of Mexico ports in Louisiana, Texas, Florida and also the Bahamas. 

Victory was purchased by a subsidiary of KK Integrated Shipping, Menominee, MI in late 2006; the tug arriving at Escanaba, MI on its delivery voyage from the Gulf on November 27, 2006.  KK used the tug during the latter part of the 2007 season in the notch of their barge Lewis J. Kuber after pulling that barge's tug Olive L. Moore from service for repairs and upgrading.   Victory was upgraded with the raising of the pilothouse an additional 8' (2.44m), the lower pilothouse being converted to 2 new staterooms and the connecting system converted to a Hydracon connector system to mate up with KK's newly converted self unloading barge James L. Kuber.  Following the christening of the barge on March 29, 2008, the pair departed Menominee, MI April 13, 2008 on their maiden voyage as an articulated tug/barge unit bound for Port Inland, MI for a load of limestone.  Victory is powered by 2 MaK 6-cylinder 6MU551AK diesel engines each rated at 3,940 b.h.p. (2,898 KW), the power being fed to 2 fixed pitch propellers giving the tug a service speed of 16.1 m.p.h.

 

Dimensions (metric)
Length (overall)	140' 00" (42.68m)
Length (registered between  perpendiculars)	129' 00" (39.32m)
Beam	43' 01" (13.13m)
Depth	18' 00" (5.49m)
Gross Tonnage	194 tons
Power (diesel)	7,880 b.h.p. (5,796 KW)

 

Close up of the notch. Dick Lund	Departing on maiden voyage as an articulated tug/barge unit, Apr. 13, 2008. Scott Best	Approaching Menominee North Pier Lighthouse, Apr. 13, 2008. Dick Lund
Approaching the barge, Apr. 10, 2008. Dick Lund	Turning toward the notch of the James L. Kuber. Dick Lund	Into the notch. Dick Lund