Groundbreaking Ceremony

The Great Lakes Towing Company Marks 106^th Anniversary with Groundbreaking Ceremony

The Great Lakes’ largest tug fleet operator sets ambitious boat-barge construction and repair plans for the future

As part of its continuing plans for diversification and expansion The Great Lakes Towing Company, a 106-year old tug company, now a multi-faceted marine transportation and ship and boat repair business, will construct a new $3,500,000 headquarters building and state-of-the-art shipyard complex on its present 6-acre deep waterfront property in the Old River Channel of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio.

Located at the foot of West 45^th Street on Division Avenue, the new facilities will incorporate fabrication, welding and diesel shops to include new technologies. The

40’-high fabrication building will be equipped with a 10-ton overhead crane that will travel the entire 150’ length of the building, and its 30’ high by 40’ hanger door will permit indoor barge and tug construction and repairs. Major new yard equipment includes a specially designed servicetruck outfitted as a “mini-shipyard” complete with welding equipment, compressed air, generator, and a crane which is ideal for off-site vessel repairs. With completion of the office and fabrication buildings, and the construction of new dock bulkheading, including an excavated boat slip in the spring of 2006, follow-on plans call for the installation of a 500-ton travel lift to complement the Company’s drydock and to permit simultaneous repair of multiple boats and barges expanding its vessel repair and marina service capabilities.

On July 20, 2005, “the Towing Company”, as it is widely known, because of its lakes-wide presence and dominance in the tugboat market, will mark its 106^th Anniversary with a groundbreaking ceremony at the construction site. The expansion is expected to create economic growth and 25 new jobs in the first 3 years of operation with a potential for more. The new facilities are within a few city blocks of Cleveland’s Max S. Hayes Vocational High School. Through its partnership with the Towing Company, student welders and mechanics will have an opportunity to obtain paid shipyard internships while attending school and during their summer recess, with further opportunity for career jobs in the shipyard and on board tugs. The new facilities include a classroom for onsite training.

Ronald C. Rasmus President of GLT talks with guests at the Groundbreaking Ceremony

The new facility will also house the Towing Company’s recently purchased, Buffalo-based barge fabrication company called "Dock Master,” which it relocated to Cleveland. Dock Master’s primary product is a truckable-sized barge, generally used for marine construction projects and marina platforms. These steel units are typically

40'L x 10'W x 4'H and weigh about 20,000 pounds each. Two units can be loaded onto one flatbed truck and can be delivered almost anywhere. Once the units reach their destination, they are placed in the water and pinned together to form a platform large enough to support whatever load is required. The truckable barge is very popular with inland marine contractors, especially those that operate in remote locations. The truckable barges are also utilized by the Navy,Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers, and municipal marinas and parks. The Towing Company’s Shipyard Division hopes to serve a repeat clientele who demand high-quality, reliable, and on-time service from skilled craftsmen with detailed knowledge of their trade.

The Company’s existing 90’ x 50’ floating drydock with a 300-gross ton lift capacity is used to service its “G” tugs, but is also used to support commercial shipyard operations specializing in all types of marine repair services for tugboats, supply boats, ferries, barges, excursion vessels, large yachts, research vessels, and even topside repairs for large domestic and foreign vessels in Cleveland and in other ports. It is a major repair yard for U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Geological Survey vessels on the Great Lakes, and, as such, “a tribute to our high-quality workmanship, on-time performance, and competitive pricing,” said Rasmus.

As the Towing Company celebrates its 106 years in continuous business, it is interesting to understand that at its founding on July 7, 1899, at the time the incandescent light was first being introduced, the Company roster of initial directors and shareholders included many prominent industrialists and Great Lakes shipping magnates: William G. Mather, Henry Dalton, Leonard C. Hanna, Thomas Wilson, James H. Hoyt, Robert L. Ireland, Augustus B. Wolvin, Harry Coulby, Samuel Mather, William G. Mather, Henry Pickands, James R. Sinclair, John D. Rockefeller, Henry and Sophia Steinbrenner, and Jeptha H. Wade.

Even though the company was a product of the 19^th Century, it established its presence as the Lakes’ premier towing firm in the 20^th century, and now plans to expand its business on and off the Lakes even further in the 21^stcentury.

Over the years The Great Lakes Towing Company has skillfully adapted to changes and trends in waterborne commerce on and off the Great Lakes. Its operations have expanded to encompass not only the Lakes and Seaway System but also to include niche markets on U.S. salt-water coasts and the Caribbean.

The Company’s tug fleet today, serving more than 40 U.S. ports in all eight Great Lakes states and the Seaway, is the largest U.S.-flag tug company on the Lakes. Great Lakes Towing owns and operates 50 tugs, all red-cabined, green-hulled and bearing the squared-off white “G” on their stacks. Nearly all are named for U.S. states.

Towing Company services include local harbor towing, docking and undocking, interport towing of vessels and barges, icebreaking, rescue, and assistance to grounded or damaged ships. Its tugboats have towed a myriad of barges and marine structures and can provide barging services and through-cargo movements, even when origin or destination is other than a Lakes port, such as a movement of heavy-lift cargo from Pennsylvania through the Mississippi River system to the Louisiana Gulf, or the movement of the world’s largest telescope mirror via the Seaway to Erie, Pennsylvania. Most recently, the Towing Company was contracted to move the West 3^rd Street Bridge span down the Cuyahoga River into the Old River Channel in Cleveland, where construction of a new span is underway. The Towing Company will reposition the new span when completed in 2006.

Our record of timely performance and safety is unmatched in the industry,” said Rasmus. The “G” tugs, as they are often referred to by Great Lakes mariners, are of low-profile design to speed bridge clearance and minimize delays. Their 12’ to 13’ draft and faired hulls, some with Kort nozzles, range in length from 81’ to 85’ with up to 2,250 horsepower (diesel) and up to 57,000 pounds of bollard pull. Rotated among Lake ports, tugs are periodically returned to the Company’s Cleveland shipyard for drydocking and maintenance. Older tugs have been refurbished, rebuilt, and repowered to maintain the quality service.

To anyone close to the shipping industry, Great Lakes Towing means tugboats on the Great Lakes. But what is not so widely known is that The Great Lakes Group, composed of the Towing Company and its affiliated companies, is a full service marine transportation company with tugboats operating on the East, Gulf, and West Coasts of the United States, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and internationally. Some of its tugboats are chartered to other major tugboat companies.

One member of the Group, Tugz International L.L.C., has been a participant in the tractor tug “revolution” of recent years. In addition to owning several ocean-towing vessels ranging from 55,000 to 162,000 pounds of bollard pull, Tugz International designed and constructed a fleet of state-of-the-art multipurpose, reverse tractor tugs.

These reverse tractor tugs are high-tech Z-drive vessels that have 4,000 horsepower with a bollard pull in excess of 110,000 pounds. Design speed is 14 knots, and hulls are ice-strengthened. Z-drive units both propel and steer the tugs, enabling them to push or pull in any direction. A Z-drive tug can turn on its own axis, stop within its own length when running at full speed, and hold position and maneuver into dock in adverse conditions. These Z-class tugs can accommodate a wide range of towing services, including ship handling, salvage, firefighting, oil recovery, tanker, escort, and ocean and coastal towing. With the new facility being built in Cleveland, it will soon be possible to construct these state-of-the-art tugs and other tugs specifically designed and adapted for Great Lakes’ service “in-house”.

For more information about The Great Lakes Towing Company and its shipyard capabilities, visit us at www.thegreatlakesgroup.com.