BoatU.S. expands its inland towing biz

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – With its new towing locations, BoatU.S. is making progress on its strategy to expand within the inland market.

Its Towing Services division, a provider of on-the-water assistance to recreational boaters, has opened up six new ports across the country and upgraded a seventh to full-time status, it reported in a recent statement.

Six of the seven ports are in inland areas, and the addition of these new TowBoatU.S. and Vessel Assist locations bring the total number of BoatU.S. Towing Services ports to 263, which it said is more than twice the size of the next largest towing service provider.

“BoatU.S Towing continues to be the largest and fastest growing on-the-water service for boaters in the United States,” said Jerry Cardarelli, vice president, BoatU.S. Towing Services. “Lately there has been more interest from inland towing companies wanting to become part of our program, since many of our prime coastal locations already have a TowBoatU.S. or Vessel Assist port.”

The new ports include TowBoatU.S. New London, Conn.; TowBoatU.S. Fox Lake, Ill.; TowBoatU.S. Port Austin, Mich.; TowBoatU.S. Harbor Beach, Mich.; TowBoatU.S. Osage Beach, Mo.; and Vessel Assist Needles, Calif. Merrick Aviation Marine was upgraded from a seasonal towing responder to full-time status and a new name, TowBoatU.S. Ingram Bay, Va.

TowBoatU.S. New London, Conn. is located in Pine Island Bay and is the second port for Capt. Don Rich, who also operates TowBoatU.S. Mystic, Conn. TowBoatU.S. Fox Lake, Ill. is the first port for Capt. Larry Phillips and is located at Electric Harbor Marina in Columbia, which Phillips also owns. TowBoatU.S. Port Austin, Mich. and TowBoatU.S. Harbor Beach, Mich. are new ports for Capt. Charles Balog. They are both located on Lake Huron at Port Austin State Dock and Offshore Marina in Harbor Beach, respectively. TowBoatU.S. Osage Beach, Mo. is the second port for Capt. Charles Meyer and is located at Dave Munganest Motorsports and Marina; Vessel Assist Needles, Calif. is located at Needles Marina on the Colorado River and is the first port for Capt. Greg Ewing. Capt. Peter Merrick will now provide 24-hour a day service in season on the lower Chesapeake Bay as the new TowBoatU.S. Ingram Bay, Va.

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