Company Profile
Moran Towing Corporation
Company Overview
Moran Towing Corporation is a leading provider of ship docking, marine transportation, and LNG activities, as well as contract, specialty, and general towing services. Our tug fleet services the most ports of any operator in the United States, and services LNG terminals along the U.S. east and Gulf coasts and the west coast of Mexico. The Moran barge fleet serves the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coasts, Puerto Rico, and the inland waters of the U.S. eastern seaboard.
Moran operates within three primary areas of business activity:
• Ship docking, LNG activities, and general towing, in and around the ports and terminals we serve
• Marine transportation of petroleum and dry bulk products
• Contract towing and specialty towing
The Company currently owns and operates 100 tugs and 30 barges. To ensure the efficiency and growth of our tug and barge fleets, we maintain an ongoing program of advanced vessel construction. Moran's newest vessels — especially our Z-drive tractor tugs and Articulated Tug and Barge units (ATBs) — use state-of-the-art propulsion technology and vessel architecture to enhance performance and safety. Moran is committed to using double-hull barge design and construction, and our entire fleet of petroleum tank barges is double-hulled.
Moran serves 17 ports, each with its own localized management, dispatch and engineering functions. All are operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
In addition to its routine operations, Moran is known for its ability to successfully plan and execute exceptionally large, complicated or demanding special projects. Our experience, technical expertise, and good standing with government and regulatory agencies are crucial assets in answering these needs.
Company History
Moran began operations in 1860 when founder Michael Moran opened a towing brokerage, Moran Towing and Transportation Company, in New York Harbor. The Company was transformed from a brokerage into an owner-operator of tugboats in 1863, when it purchased a one-half interest in the tugboat Ida Miller for $2,700.
At the time, the Harbor was alive with ships — many of them still sail-powered — and Moran's enterprise soon grew into a fleet of tugboats. It was Michael Moran himself who painted the first white "M" on a Moran tugboat stack, reportedly around 1880. The logo has been a fixture in and around New York Harbor ever since, and is now recognized worldwide.
During Moran's first 75 years, the Company grew along with the overall growth of the Port of New York, and was deeply involved in the commercial life of the city. When New York celebrated the centennial of George Washington's inauguration, for instance, Moran handled the re-enactment of Washington's boat trip to Lower Manhattan. Some years later, Moran tugs and barges transported the excavated soil from the construction of the New York City subway.
Beyond New York, a Moran tug was the first vessel to enter Havana Harbor after the Spanish-American War. After the turn of the century, another Moran tug sailed around the tip of South America and won the contract to transport material excavated during the building of the Panama Canal.
In the early days of World War I, Moran provided tugs to the British Government. After America entered the War, the U.S. Government built numerous tugs, all based on Moran designs.
During World War II, Moran operated more than 100 tugs, both Moran- and Government-owned, as part of the war effort. The Company's most significant contribution was the towing of huge barges across the North Atlantic for a crucial rendezvous with a Moran-operated tug fleet in the English Channel. The Channel-based fleet was transporting artificial harbors to strategic points off the Normandy coast, where it would install them so that heavy equipment could be unloaded onto the beaches. The operation was critical to the success of the Allied invasion of Europe.
World War II was, in fact, a significant turning point for Moran, and initiated a period of rapid growth and geographic expansion for the Company. When the United States returned to peacetime growth, Moran maintained the large fleet it had built up and made some key decisions that enhanced its market position, providing a platform for future growth. For example, Moran was one of the first companies to embrace diesel propulsion and played an active role in the expansion and consolidation of the harbor-tug industry.
Some of Moran's early acquisitions were centered in New York Harbor, but in subsequent years Moran grew geographically, establishing operations in multiple ports along the U.S. eastern seaboard and Gulf Coast.
During the 1970s Moran began expanding its presence in the marine transportation segment of the industry, with an ongoing program of tug-barge unit construction and acquisition. The current Moran barge fleet services utilities, municipalities and commercial customers, carrying mainly petroleum products, coal, aggregates, grains, fertilizers, scrap, steel products, and heavy-lift cargoes.
Moran tugs have towed a multitude of commercial and military vessels, including ships, commercial container barges, petroleum barges, dry bulk barges, LNG spheres, oil rigs, bridge sections, dry-docks, and a barge carrying spent nuclear fuel. In addition to providing ship docking, offshore contract towing and LNG activities, Moran vessels have supported various cable-laying operations and have performed many rescue tows. The Company has a long and proud tradition of service to the U.S. Navy, and its ties to commercial customers span as far back as 100 years.
In 1994, Paul R. Tregurtha and James R. Barker purchased Moran from Thomas Moran. Mr. Tregurtha became Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer and currently serves in that position. Both he and Mr. Barker possessed extensive maritime industry experience prior to the sale. As principals in Mormac Marine Group and Interlake Steamship Company, both men were responsible for the operation of oceangoing tankers and Great Lakes dry bulk carriers.
The sale of Moran represented a change in ownership, but not character; the new owners have been committed from the start to upholding the high standards set by the Moran family for quality, customer service, safety and environmental responsibility. Moran's business philosophy and corporate culture were not altered.
Between 1998 and 2007, Moran acquired several towing and towing-related companies. It purchased Turecamo Maritime and several other Turecamo-affiliated companies in 1998; River Parishes Company of New Orleans, in 2006; and in 2007, Morehead City Towboat Co. and Cape Fear Towing Company, of Morehead City and Wilmington, North Carolina, respectively. These acquisitions further solidified Moran's position as a leader in the tug and barge industry. Today Moran is the oldest and largest supplier of tugs on the U.S. east and Gulf coasts.