From Passenger Vessel to Ship Assist

Transportation through water has been a significant part of human history. In fact, most ancient civilizations settled near rivers because they could use the water in irrigating their crops, transporting harvests, and getting to other places quicker than on foot.

One of the milestones in water transportation development is steam technology, which made its way into the world in the late 1700's. By the early 1800's, riverboats have been fitted with steam engines that made them more efficient.

In March 1802, William Symington of Scotland made his own steam engine and registered a patent for it. Eventually, he fitted it into his paddlewheel boat and named her Charlotte Dundas – the world's first tugboat.

Although tugboats were originally used as a passenger ship, they became boats that towed ships in and out of harbors and into the open sea. Then, World War I and II brought a surge in the production and demand for tugboats as they were utilized for war efforts. Such vessels had upgrades in design, propulsion, communication, and navigation systems.

To this very day, tugboats are still major players in the maritime industry with their impressive towing power and hauling capabilities. Barges and large ships may look great and mighty as they break through seawater and strong waves, but at the end of the day, it's the small yet dependable tugboat that safely pulls them home.

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Tugboats: The Hardest Working Work Boat There Is

Small work boats can usually be seen in the many harbors of the world, docking and undocking ships. These are more commonly known as tugboats and their job basically goes like this: The boat's captain moves the vessel alongside a ship, and then the tugboat's crew sends a large line to the ship, which is fastened onto the ship by its crew. Once all the lines are securely attached and everything is set, a docking pilot will direct instructions over the radio to the tug captain who will then maneuver the ship into or out of her berth.

The equipment one can find on a tugboat usually consists of the following: a stout line of about four inches in diameter, a small messenger line to haul the heavy line onto the ship's deck, and an even smaller heaving line to get the messenger line on board the ship. Once the stout line is up and both ends are fastened, the crews of both ships stand back while the captain and the docking pilot do their job.

The work of a tugboat remains the same wherever it may be. It gets to the job, puts up a line, and moves around until the larger boat is in the desired position. Once that's done, the tugboat crew brings the lines in, straightens them up, and prepares for the next vessel that needs maneuvering assistance.

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Brief Discussion on the History of Tugboats

In the late 1700s to the early 1800s, the development of the steam engine reached its peak, and it was integrated as the new source of power for riverboats. The first tugboat, however, was not made until 1802, when William Symington of Scotland equipped his paddlewheel boat with his patented steam engine. Unfortunately, Symington's boat was banned by canal proprietors after only 6 hours into its maiden trip for fear that it would erode the canal banks with its paddlewheel.

A few years after engineer Robert Fulton brought the steamboat to America, its potential for towing was quickly realized. Thus, a steamboat was specially built for towing sailing ships into the New York harbor. In just ten years after this, the towing industry grew in ports around the world, and the competition for tugboat services became fierce.

It was the diesel engine that forever changed the life of the tugboat. Aside from the fact that it is lighter and much simpler to run, the engine also needs less people to operate. Eventually, further tugboat innovations and demand was created due to the start of World War I and World War II. Today, you can still see tugboats in all their glory, towing in and out of ports everything from cargo ships to aircraft carriers.

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