Description

SHELLEY FOSS TUG BOAT, LIGHTED, RC READY

FULLY BUILT AND READY TO DISPLAY, QUALITY SHIP MODEL

Dimension approx.: 36″ (long) x 12″ (wide) x 20″ (high)
The model is already built. THIS IS NOT A MODEL SHIP KIT
LIGHTED - LED LIGHTS pre-installed (power supply not included)

When the Shelley Foss slid down the ways at Albina Machine & Engine Works in Portland in 1970, she was built for one purpose: hard work. Foss Maritime — already an institution in the Pacific Northwest — needed a new generation of steel‑hulled, high‑horsepower tugs to handle the growing demands of towing, barge work, and industrial marine operations across Puget Sound. The Shelley Foss, hull number 418, was one of those vessels: compact, powerful, and engineered for decades of service.

Foss Maritime’s story began in 1889, when Thea Foss started a humble rowboat rental service on the Tacoma waterfront. By the time the Shelley Foss was built, that small enterprise had grown into one of the most respected towing companies on the West Coast. The Shelley Foss carried that legacy forward — a steel‑hulled, twin‑screw tug with 2,250 horsepower from a pair of Caterpillar D399TA diesels, pushing her two massive 84.5‑inch propellers inside kort nozzles. She was built to push, pull, and endure.

For decades, she worked the waters of Puget Sound and the broader Pacific Northwest, towing barges, assisting construction projects, and handling the rugged, day‑to‑day tasks that define the region’s maritime industry. Her 84‑foot length, 30‑foot beam, and stout Foss winches made her a versatile platform — equally at home nudging a barge into a tight berth or hauling heavy loads across open water.

In 2010, after forty years with Foss, the Shelley Foss was sold to Manson Construction Company, another major Pacific Northwest maritime operator. Manson renamed her Nancy M., outfitting her with bow push knees to better handle derricks and construction barges. It was a practical transformation — the kind that working tugs undergo as their missions evolve — and it kept her firmly in the world she knew best: heavy marine construction.

A decade later, in 2020, she changed hands again, this time to Island Tug and Barge Company of Seattle. Renamed Island Breeze, she received a new upper wheelhouse, giving her improved visibility when pushing tall, heavily loaded gravel barges. It was yet another adaptation, another chapter in a long career defined by flexibility and durability.

Today, as Island Breeze, the former Shelley Foss continues to work the waters of Puget Sound — a testament to the longevity of well‑built steel tugs and the evolving needs of the region’s maritime economy. Her history mirrors the story of Northwest towing itself:

From Thea Foss’s rowboat to modern diesel tugs
From log rafts to gravel barges and construction platforms
From a Foss flagship tug to a versatile, modernized workhorse

Few vessels serve for more than half a century. Fewer still do so under multiple owners, multiple names, and multiple configurations — all while remaining essential to the infrastructure of a region.

The Shelley Foss — now Island Breeze — is one of those rare survivors: a working tug with a working soul, carrying forward more than fifty years of Pacific Northwest maritime tradition.