Multi-year Contract with Great Lakes

THE TUG DON RAUL

The Don Raul, a 74-foot, 2,800 hp tug built by Great Lakes Shipyard in 2008, at work on the water. The Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District awarded a $8.4 million contract to Cleveland-based Great Lakes Towing on April 20 for lease of the tugboat to serve as part of its repair fleet on the Great Lakes. (Photo courtesy of Great Lakes Towing)

Last week, the Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District, awarded a $8.4 million contract to Cleveland-based Great Lakes Towing for the five-year lease of the tugboat Don Raul to serve on the Great Lakes.

​The boat will primarily be used on Lake Erie between Buffalo, N.Y., and Toledo, Ohio, but may serve all the way to Massena, N.Y., towing the Buffalo District’s repair fleet. The fleet is one of three strategically located across the Great Lakes, providing a flexible, rapid response for maintenance at U.S. Harbors and along the nation’s shorelines.

The Don Raul is a 74-foot, 2,800 hp, twin-screw seagoing tug, built by Great Lakes Shipyard in 2008.
The tug will be leased for one year, with an initial contract award of $3 million, and options to renew for up to four more years, bringing the total contract value to $8.4 million.
The Don Raul will be a short-term replacement for the tugboat Cheraw, while the District develops and implements a longer term replacement plan. The Cheraw is a former Navy seagoing tug which was transferred to the Buffalo District in 1998. Tugboats are used to transport a derrick boat and materials barges from harbor to harbor.
The Don Raul is expected to depart its current port in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and arrive in Cleveland for maintenance before final delivery to the Buffalo District’s repair fleet crew on Aug. 1.

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The Buffalo District is responsible for the maintenance of 35 federal harbors and navigation projects on Lakes Erie and Ontario, including approximately 37 miles of protective structures such as piers, jetties, and breakwaters.
The district’s repair fleet program utilizes the government-owned repair fleet and hired labor to perform repairs to District navigation structures, execute snagging and clearing to remove trees and other obstructions to navigation, and conduct installation and maintenance of safety ladders and signage.
The repair fleet is engaged in harbor maintenance activities for the full duration of construction season on the Great Lakes, typically from mid-April to early November.

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​The tug Don Raul departed San Juan, Puerto Rico today (29Apr2022) at 0900 hrs destined to Cleveland Ohio via Jacksonville Fl. The mobilization trip will take the Don Raul north of Cuba thru the old Bahama Channel and up to Jacksonville where it will take fuel and supplies and then proceed north to the St. Lawrence Seaway (Canada), west thru the Great Lakes and to Cleveland Ohio, where it will be dry-docked, before it starts its new Contract. The 3,752 mile trip will take approximately 3 weeks (GW-WP). BMG wishes the tug Don Raul and its crew a good trip and GOD SPEED !!!!