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History of technology
Ten things (almost) nobody knows about tugboats
They are among the smallest ships in any harbour, yet they move the largest objects ever built by humankind.
A 30-metre tug can push a 400-metre container ship, tow an oil platform weighing hundreds of thousands of tonnes, or help rescue a vessel that seems impossibly large beside it. And sometimes, a single mistake can make the tug itself capsize in seconds.
How can such a small tugboat exert enough power to move a giant ship? So how do tugboats work, and how can they push or pull ships hundreds of times larger than themselves?
1 What was the most incredible towing operation?
There is no official international register of maritime towing operations, but many have remained etched in the collective imagination due to their dramatic nature. Here I’m highlighting a few episodes that have remained in the collective memory and were well covered by media. If you know of any others, fell free to share them in the comments!
Costa Concordia
One of the most famous tows of recent times, not least because of its media coverage, was that of the Costa Concordia. This large Italian cruise ship ran aground on the island of Giglio on the night of 13 January…
