COURTESY YOUNG BROS.
The Kapena George Panui is the third of four new tugs joining Young Brothers’ interisland fleet.
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Young Brothers LLC is now three-quarters of the way through modernizing much of its tugboat fleet.
The state’s largest interisland ocean cargo transportation firm held a blessing ceremony Saturday at Nawiliwili Harbor on Kauai for a third new, roughly $20 million boat, the Kapena George Panui.
Young Brothers ordered four boats in 2016 from Conrad Shipyard in Louisiana to replace four of nine older boats in the company’s fleet. The first new tug, Kapena Jack Young, went into service in September.
The four boats are named after captains, or “kapena” in Hawaiian. The newest tugboat is named after father and son Young Brothers captains, the former starting his first command in 1960 when pineapples were the only thing carried by Young Brothers barges, according to the company.
Young Brothers said the new boats are 40% more
fuel-efficient and will also save money on maintenance.
