 Humble Beginnings
American Navigation Company was founded in 1976 by a high school shop teacher with a passion for tugboats.
The First Tug
The school teacher heard word of an auction in San Diego sponsored by the United States Navy. In the auction, was a small, 65 foot tug with an underpowered 450 horsepower engine. The teacher won the auction and moved the tug to San Francisco. The tug’s engine proved to be too small to dock the large vessels calling in San Francisco. A new, 1,250 horsepower diesel was purchased which tripled the previous horsepower. The tug received a lot of attention from local marine experts who said the vessel could not handle the extra horsepower. The tug, however, proved to be a great success and was chosen to dock the Queen Mary II on her maiden voyage to San Francisco.
Second Tug, More Horsepower
The first tugboat was so successful that a second tug was purchased, again at a U.S. Navy auction. The second tug was a larger one of 85 feet and had an 850 horsepower engine. This tug was repowered but this time the horsepower was quadrupled. A 4,000 horsepower locomotive engine was installed. Again the experts said the tug could not handle the horsepower. But the tug went on to be one of the most successful ship docking tugs of all time on the West Coast.
 New Generation Tugs
American Navigation was a pioneer in developing tugboats with high horsepower engines in relatively small hulls. Today's designs compliment AMNAV’s original thought process with the new generation of tractor tugs. Today, the company as AMNAV Maritime Services, continues to make history with its acquisition of high tech, high horsepower tugs.
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