Cooper Group welcomes new river pushboat to Louisiana fleet

US towage operator the Cooper Group of Companies took delivery of a new inland pushboat from shipbuilder Blakeley BoatWorks of Mobile, Alabama, on Thursday, October 31.

Claire Ellen will be owned by Cooper subsidiary Cooper Marine and will be operated primarily in Louisiana. The newbuild is a near-identical sister vessel of Green Wave, which was handed over by Blakeley BoatWorks in 2022.

Designed by Farrell and Norton Naval Architects, the 70-foot (20-metre) long, 28-foot (8.5-metre) wide, 1,600hp (1,200kW) vessel is fully compliant with the latest United States Coast Guard Subchapter M regulatory requirements.

The pushboat is powered by two Caterpillar C32 800hp (600kW) US EPA Tier III diesel engines coupled to Twin Disc MGX5222 gearboxes and driving four-bladed, stainless steel propellers. Electrical power is supplied by two Caterpillar C4.4 EPA Tier III generators.

The vessel is outfitted with four crew staterooms housing up to seven crewmembers with three toilets and a full galley arrangement.

Blakeley BoatWorks has also begun construction on a seventh 1,600hp pushboat for Cooper Marine’s Louisiana operations.