Atlas, the famed Titan in Greek mythology, is renowned for bearing the world and sky on his shoulders, a punishment inflicted by Zeus on the strongest man in the world.

Somewhere near St. Louis, MO, the mortal Atlas, a 65-foot triple screw towboat, is besieged with nearly the same fate in his working life on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.

This inland river push boat is a commercial sand dredger, a workhorse in continuous operation, pushing the heaviest loads. On the job, Atlas pushes a stationary dredge that keeps midwest river channels navigable. After dredging the bottom, he pushes 130-foot barges full of sand to an offload facility where the aggregate is sold. Knees forward, mighty Atlas pushes a four-barge tow, each barge with a 500T capacity.

Built in 1962 at Barbour Shipyard, Atlas is on his second repower, now moving from non-tier engines to cleaner, Tier 3 Cummins X15’s , the first on America’s inland waterways. 
 

Competitive edge for towboaters

“As long as the hull is good, we just put in a new engine,” said Carl Hadler, marine applications engineer for Cummins.  
With a clean installation, mounting and plumbing solutions, the X15 package is 15L contiguous 500HP, a competitive edge according to Hadler.  
“This is a three-engine tug, a triple screw,” he said. “The cleaner Tier 3 X15’s are the first package on the inland waterways, built and spec’d for 1500 HP.”

In fact, the Cummins Marine X15 engine is the perfect option for repowering older vessels, designed to withstand high hour, continuous-duty operation.

Conveniently, the engine fits in place of various legacy engines. The X15 saves space in the engine room and delivers cleaner emissions and better fuel economy at a continuous-duty power cycle.

This miserly, fuel-efficient efficient version of Cummins X15 engine for commercial marine market segments includes inland waterways, commercial fishing and passenger transport. The X15 offers variable and fixed speed ratings between 450 HP (336 kW) and 600 HP (447 kW) while meeting U.S. EPA Tier 3 and International Maritime Organization Tier II emissions standards.

The X15 utilizes the latest Cummins fuel system product, XPI. This common rail system provides the highest injection pressure of any other common rail system resulting in an efficient fuel burn for clean emissions and optimized fuel economy.

Also, the X15 uses the most intelligent Cummins engine control module, CM2350. Providing advanced diagnostic and monitoring capability as well as engine protection through de-rates and automated engine shutdowns to prevent catastrophic failures, the CM2350 technology also features fuel sensor monitoring, digital engine start/stop functionality, gear pressure and temperature.  
 

1500 HP triple screw repower saves towboat $25,000 annually

Atlas is part of the fleet for Gateway Dredging and Construction, which received a clean air grant by St. Louis County, MO for the repower as part of a Buy American Grant.

The X15’s were chosen for numerous reasons, said Gateway’s COO, Terry Bangert.

“This X15 engine is in the horsepower range and just hits the sweet spot in our 455 - 500HP target, wheels, pitches and gear just right with great cooling for a shallow draft boat,” said Bangert. “We will save $20,000 - $25,000 on shipyard work and cooling requirements each year. These engines are powerful, clean and new, now focused on the inland waterways. We’re turning the throttle to the dash.”  Gateway counts on Cummins, switching three towboats over during the last five years.

“We have Cummins in two new builds from 2016 and 2020, KTA19’s  and a repower in  2018,” said Bangert. “The power with the service, parts, dependability can’t be beat.”