A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move
vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor
or a narrow canal, or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges,
disabled ships, log rafts, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for their size
and strongly built, and some are ocean-going. Some tugboats serve as icebreakers
or salvage boats. Early tugboats had steam engines, but today most have diesel
engines. Many tugboats have firefighting monitors, allowing them to assist in
firefighting, especially in harbors.
Compared to seagoing tugboats, harbour tugboats are generally smaller and the
width-to-length ratio is often higher, due to the need for a lower draught. In
smaller harbours these are often also termed lunch bucket boats, because they are
only manned when needed and only at a minimum (captain and deckhand), thus the
crew will bring their own lunch with them.
River tugs are also referred to as towboats or pushboats. Their hull designs
would make open ocean operation dangerous. River tugs usually do not have any
significant hawser or winch. Their hulls feature a flat front or bow to line up
with the rectangular stern of the barge, often with large pushing knees.
Tugboat races are held annually on Elliott Bay in Seattle, on the Hudson River at
the New York Tugboat Race, the Detroit River, and the Great Tugboat Race and
Parade (2012 event was on June 29–30) on the St. Mary's River.
Since 1980, an annual tugboat ballet has been held in Hamburg harbour on the
occasion of the festival commemorating the anniversary of the establishment of a
port in Hamburg. On a weekend in May, eight tugboats perform choreographed
movements for about an hour to the tunes of waltz and other sorts of dancing
music.
