Case Study: Island Tug achieves quieter, more efficient tug repower with Cummins

Island Tug - Customer Case Study

Island Tug, a Vancouver-based towing and barge operator, faced an aging fleet and needed to extend the life of its 1977-built tug, Island Defender, while improving efficiency, reliability, and crew comfort. Working with Cummins, the company evaluated repower options and chose a package built around twin Cummins KT19 main engines, along with support from Robert Allan Ltd. for lifecycle and repower analysis.

Cummins helped deliver a major midlife rebuild that went far beyond an engine swap: the tug received soft-mounted Cummins KT19s, new propulsion and shafting components, updated monitoring and control panels, and extensive engine-room and vessel refurbishments. The result was a quieter, more efficient tug with an expected 8% improvement in efficiency, 34,000 pounds of static bollard pull, and lower fuel use and crewing costs; the rebuild was also completed at about 60% of the cost of a new build.

Island Tug