MB400 Business Radio Brings Clear Communication to Tugboat Crews

Yerba Studios is a production company based in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York. 

Chris Foy founded the company alongside Jessen Gibbs. 

About DeForge Maritime Towing

DeForge Maritime Towing is a family-owned tug and barge company. 

The company handles marine construction projects, salvage operations ocean-going cargo transport, and many other services. 

Some of DeForge's clients include Heko Services, Sause Bros., Cruz Construction, Kiewit,Cook Inlet Tug & Barge. 

The Project

DeForge reached out to Foy and Yerba studios for a project delivering modular homes to victims of the Hawaii wildfires.

The 2023 wildfires killed more than 100 people and impacted people predominantly on the island of Maui. 

“They wanted to shoot a mini documentary around the whole process- the loading of the modular homes, the shipping of the homes across the Pacific, and finally getting those homes to the community in Hawaii. The film captured that process from start to finish.”

They took 2 barges from Long Beach, California to Hawaii. 

He said the loading process took about a week and then the journey took approximately 18 days.

“They went to O'ahu first and did an island crossing over to Maui. They took the first barge over to Maui, dropped it off, went back to O’ahu to pick up the second barge, and brought that over to Maui.”

MB400 Business Radio on the Job

Foy said reliable communication couldn't be more important to the tugboat crews.

"The loading and unloading requires a lot of coordination. The tugboat crews- the people on board the tugboats and the people on the shore- operating cranes, moving heavy machinery. There just has to be a lot of communication between those 3 points of contact. The captain knows how the barge should be placed up against the dock. The dock crews are talking to the crews on the barge as they're fastening and hoisting the modular homes. The radios provided a way for all of those people to be connected and in communication." 

Foy has previously used Midland's GXT67 PRO to capture a documentary along the Leadville 100 Run so he looked to Midland for communication. The crews ended up using Midland's MB400 BizTalk® Business Band Two-Way Radio - MB400 when docked. They can only use marine radios while on the water. 

He noted the crews found the MB400 Business Radio simple.

“The crews really like the ease of use of the radios. With the marine radios they’re used to, there’s a lot of buttons and knobs. The MB400s fit in your hand really nicely, have a nice look and feel to them. To turn the channel, you literally just have to turn the dial on the top of the radio.  When there’s so much in front of you that you’re dealing with, you don’t want to have to be fiddling around with a walkie talkie. You want something that’s going to work immediately.”

The MB400s are IP67 waterproof and dustproof, key to the crew's operations. 

“Also a lot of the times, the radios do get wet. Often times when the marine radios get wet, the voice clarity becomes muffled. It’s not clear communication. The clarity of the MB400s is great, even if they got sea spray here and there. They still work really well.”

The MB400 Business Radios also brought clear communication to the entire process as they were used at both the beginning of the project and the end.

“They also noted that the clarity of the MB400s is really precise and really clear. That’s really important because there’s always a lot of loud machinery whether you’re on the tugboat or you’re working on the docks.”

With the number of moving parts during loading and unloading at the docks, communication plays an important role in keeping the crews safe.

“Tugboat crews have to be very in sync. It’s a small crew of usually 4 to 5 people. Often times when they get to shore, the deckhands literally have to crawl onto the barge. It’s important that everyone knows what is going on- even if it’s the captain giving the deckhand directions on how to approach a certain entryway into the dock. It’s important that everyone on the team hears that. It’s the entire team using these radios.”