08/31/2026
Commercial vessels don't make money sitting still - and we understand that.
This weekend, True North Marine had the opportunity to support Curtin Maritime Corp. with the arrival and commissioning of a very interesting new vessel: Hull #1 of a 27-foot, 48,000-pound steel and aluminum all-electric workboat, designed to serve as a tender/assist vessel for a larger dredge operating on the Houston Ship Channel.
For us, it was also an opportunity to demonstrate the kind of support we want to provide to the commercial maritime industry here on the Gulf Coast.
And, as often happens in the commercial world, the schedule didn't go exactly according to plan.
Originally scheduled to arrive Friday, the vessel was delayed and didn't reach our facility until 10:00am Saturday morning. True North Marine is normally closed on weekends, but we made arrangements to accommodate the vessel, Curtin Maritime's engineer and their crew without hesitation.
Then it arrived on a 110-foot transport trailer!
Getting 48,000 pounds of workboat off a trailer of that size, positioned beneath our Marine Travelift and safely into the water is no small task!
Curtin's team anticipated needing two True North Marine technicians for approximately 3-4 hours to complete commissioning work. Instead, our team worked alongside them until 7:00pm Saturday evening, then returned at 8:00am Sunday morning to finish the job. By approximately noon Sunday, the vessel was underway and departing our facility under its own power. You might have seen it and one of their other workboats crossing Clear Lake and through the channel to Galveston Bay.
A big thank-you to Mario and Bronson, who put in the long day Saturday; Bronson and Justin, who came back Sunday morning; and Dax, our Operations Manager, who coordinated the operation, oversaw the launch and worked alongside our technicians throughout the weekend.
They did it all in some pretty unforgiving Texas August heat!
We appreciate Curtin Maritime Corp. trusting True North Marine to support this project and were excited to play a small part in getting Hull #1 ready to go to work on the Houston Ship Channel.
For our commercial customers, we recognize that downtime is expensive and schedules matter. Vessels don't always arrive Monday through Friday between 8 and 5, and unexpected challenges are simply part of the maritime business. When circumstances require it, our team will do everything reasonably possible to accommodate the vessel, solve the problem and get our customer back to work.
That's the level of service True North Marine is committed to providing commercial operators working on the Houston Ship Channel, Galveston Bay and throughout the Gulf Coast.
Thank you to the Curtin Maritime team - and especially to our True North Marine crew for a job well done!
48,000 lbs. | 27' all-electric workboat | Hull #1 | 110' transport trailer | One very long weekend.
