May 21 - Seattle, Washington-based Crowley Maritime has sold its 33.5 m, 40-year old twin-screw Seneca Class tug Sioux to Island Tug & Barge, also of Seattle. Sioux is to be renamed Island Venture by its new owner and is presently being painted in the new
The primary function of the tug while owned by Crowley was the towing of barges between Puget Sound and the Prudhoe Bay oil fields in Alaska.
She combined the shallow draught and manoeuvrability of river towboats with the stability and endurance of ocean-going vessels. The tug has seen service from the Sacramento River in California to the Arctic Ocean and as far east as Hawaii where the Sioux rescued one of two barges which broke loose from another tug in a severe storm which swept the Pacific causing severe damage and loss to numerous vessels.
Sioux was designed and built in 1970 in Tacoma, Washington.
