It’s a long journey from buying a used and dilapidated tugboat and spending 10 months getting it seaworthy to owning a large and trustworthy towing fleet that is sought after for difficult tows.
That is the life journey taken by Mike Vinik of Keyport, N.J. His present fleet of tugboats couldn’t be more different than that first derelict tug.
Vinik is the owner of Vinik Marine, but that does not mean he sits in a corporate office. He often gets out there and pilots the tugboats himself, especially on difficult tows.
When Vinik got the once-in-a-lifetime gig of towing the historic “SS United States” from Philadelphia to the Port of Mobile, he wasn’t about to let someone else behind the wheel. He piloted the “Vinik 6” himself for 1,800 miles over 10 days.
After attending the space camp in Huntsville as a youth, Vinik dropped his early goal of becoming an astronaut. He changed to aquanaut.
Vinik then attended the Marine Academy of Science and Technology for high school. He later graduated from the New York Maritime College in 2003. It was a year later that he bought the tug that was in bad shape, took 10 months to overhaul it and started growing his own towing company.
It’s an All-American story.
Fast forward to 2024. Proposals were being sought for a long and challenging tow of a dead ship. That means the ship has no propulsion of its own and is totally dependent on the tugboat for forward motion and steering. No tow, no go.
Not only that, but the dead ship is huge – 990 feet long. Bigger than the Titanic.
No ordinary tugboat could handle the job, and no ordinary pilot could make that trip.
The contract went to Vinik the company and Vinik the pilot.
The Vinik #6, the vessel that towed the SS United States, is a specialized ocean-going tug built for challenging operations. At 141 feet with two locomotive engines generating 5,750 horsepower, the tug is equipped for just the type of offshore towing needed for the SS United States.
The tugboat holds over 130,000 gallons of fuel, 30,000 gallons of lubricant, and over 60,000 gallons of ballast. It is steered from either of two wheelhouses — an upper and a lower.
The SS United States was the largest vessel Vinik has ever moved. Surveyors and the U.S. Coast Guard checked out Vinik #6.
Throughout the journey, Vinik and crew had to adjust the wire between tug and vessel. They also had to adjust speed due to high tailwinds.
The SS United States caught a tailwind and tried to pass its tug.
All along the Eastern Coast, crowds gathered onshore to watch. They were joined by planes, helicopters, pleasure boats and drones, all trying to watch the ship and tug in its final journey.
Due to the tailwinds, the tug and ship arrived in Mobile five days ahead of schedule on March 3.
With the SS United States in its last port in Mobile, Vinik and his tugboat are now heading back to New Jersey. Meanwhile, the iconic ocean liner awaits the next phase of its journey — remediation by Mobile boat workers and transformation into the world’s largest artificial reef for sinking into the Gulf of America about 20 miles offshore.
It’s a long journey from being the world’s fastest Transatlantic liner to being the world’s largest artificial reef.
Jim’ Zig’ Zeigler writes about Alabama’s people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at [email protected].
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
This post was originally published on here
