An innovative re-configuration to an existing Voith Water Tractor by Foss Maritime met the customer-driven need for a higher bollard pull tug to handle large new‑build container ships in Tacoma, Washington. This paper describes the process Foss followed to develop the solution: installation of a single azimuthing stern drive thruster in an existing, highly successful Voith Tractor Tug. The TractorPlus project became a remarkable success and Foss shares the development story, as well as the results of testing and operations.

Full paper: ITS TractorPlus Performance Results

Authors:  Steve Scalzo (Foss Maritime); Gary Faber (Foss Maritime); William Hurley (Glosten); Ton Kooren (Kooren Shipbuilding and Trading B.V.)