Capt. Gary Setvin, at the helm of the 80-foot z-drive tug Sommer S., likes that the boat is compact. He applauds the maneuverability, the power and the comfort of the vessel, “but its greatest feature is that it is short and you can apply power in tight spaces.”
Sommer S., built at Diversified Marine in 2012, is the most powerful tug in Shaver Transportation’s fleet. Both the builder and the owner are located in Portland, Ore., but on different rivers. Diversified Marine is on the Columbia River in the shadow of the Interstate 5 bridge, and Shaver is on the south bank of the Willamette River near its confluence with the Columbia.
Sommer S. was designed by Capilano Maritime Design Ltd. of North Vancouver, British Columbia, as a ship assist and escort tug that is also capable of shifting barges. The tug operates in harbors on the Columbia River from Astoria to Portland and serves as an escort at the Columbia River Bar.
This story is from the September 2017 edition of Professional Mariner.
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This story is from the September 2017 edition of Professional Mariner.
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