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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

CMA CGM Figaro Requires THREE Tugs!

It was quite windy on Sunday morning, January 29. When the fully loaded CMA CGM container ship, M/V Figaro, arrived in Elliott Bay about 10 AM, winds were gusting from the south at about 30 mph. A couple of hours earlier, gusts to 40 mph were being reported.

We had never seen either an incoming or outgoing ship require the assistance of three tugs, but that's precisely what we observed on the 29th, as three Foss tugs assisted Figaro as she approached her berth in the east waterway.


M/V Figaro is an 8500 teu container ship owned and operated by CMA CGA, the world’s third largest container shipping group. CMA CGM is headquartered in Marseille, France. See http://www.cma-cgm.com/AboutUs/Default.aspx.

The Figaro departed the Port of Seattle today, bound for Vancouver, BC. Notice that she appeared to have fewer containers behind the superstructure when she departed Seattle than when she arrived.


During her departure, Garth Foss, a 155-foot 8,000-hp tractor tug, passed in front of Figaro. According to MarineLink.com, Garth Foss was delivered to Foss Tugs in 1993. At the time of delivery, she and a sister tug were reported to be the world's largest and most powerful tugs. She was originally designed to escort tankers in the Straits of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound.


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