CROW departs Saturday, taking PAV 103 with it

Tug CROW, after a week in port, departed Erie early Saturday morning with the third of six deck barges under construction at Erie Shipbuilding, the PAV 103, in tow. The tug, which is too high and, with the barge, too long for the Erie Canal section of the New York State Canal System, arrived in Port Colborne, Ontario after dark on Saturday afternoon and secured at Wharf 16 of the Welland Canal.

After undergoing inspection by St. Lawrence Seaway authorities on Sunday morning, the tug pushed the barge downbound through the Welland Canal on Sunday, bound for Oswego, New York. At Oswego, the tug would enter the New York State Barge Canal bound for Albany, New York.

The PAV 103 came out of drydock only three weeks after the completion of PAV 102. The three remaining deck barges, PAV 104, PAV 105, and PAV 106, will likely be completed by Erie Shipbuilding and remain in Erie over the winter, as the New York State Canal System is scheduled to close for the winter on Thursday. This means that delivering the remaining deck barges would require tugs to take them through the St. Lawrence Seaway, around Canada, and into New York harbor and up the Hudson River to Albany. This would be a long, expensive voyage for the barges.


CROW and PAV 103 secured above Lock 7 of the Welland Canal on Sunday morning, awaiting dowbound transit.


Close up of the CROW.


Stern view of the tug and barge.