Nordic Tug 54, the Flagship Tug and How It Grew From the 52

The biggest Nordic tug for sale, and why it is rare

If you are hunting for a Nordic tug for sale and want true long-range capability, the 54 is the top of the ladder. It is the largest boat Nordic Tugs builds, a 56 ft 10 in overall cruiser with a 16 ft 10 in beam, 1,300 gallons of fuel and a quoted range of about 2,600 nautical miles at 8 knots. Nordic's own website was already showing it by November 2008, and in early 2009 Soundings described the company's range as running from 26 to 54 feet.

Nordic Tugs is a relatively small builder in Burlington, Washington, and its flagship appears on the brokerage market only occasionally. That makes each used example a significant event and means buyers should be ready to travel and to act when a well-kept boat appears.

The Nordic Tugs 52 came first

The 54's story starts with the Nordic Tugs 52, introduced in 2003. Power and Motoryacht's test that year found a boat unlike anything Nordic had built before, with a bow pulpit nearly 8 ft 10 in above the waterline and the same 16 ft 10 in beam the 54 carries today. Standard power was twin 430 hp Cummins 450C diesels, with twin 460s or a single 635 hp Cummins QSM11 as options, and the twin engine boats had skegs and large rudders that protected the props but made the boat pivot unusually far aft around the dock.

Nordic CEO Jim Cress described hull 1 to Yachting as a 26 on steroids, and the magazine put it at nearly 70,000 lb, with a sweet spot of 14 knots at 2,100 rpm on 27 gph from twin 480 hp Cummins. The hull was vacuum-bagged closed-cell foam above the waterline and solid below, with Nida-Core decks and an all 24 volt DC system. Its two big staterooms, each with a shower-equipped head, became the template for the 54.

Nordic's company history says the 52 later evolved into the 54, with an integrated transom platform and a fresh interior, the same path the 32 and 37 took to become the 34 and 39.

One 670 hp diesel instead of twins

Where the 52 was usually twin engined, the 54 settled on a single big diesel. Nordic's 2008 description promised a single 670 hp electronic diesel, speeds into the teens and enough fuel for long passages. The 2011 specification names a Cummins QSM11 at 670 hp, and by 2015 the standard equipment list specified a Volvo Penta D11 at 670 hp through a ZF 360A gear at 2.636:1, turning a 35 x 32.5 in five blade nickel-aluminum-bronze prop on a 3 in stainless shaft with a PSS dripless seal.

We have not found an independent speed and fuel table for the 54, so use Nordic's 2,600 mile figure at 8 knots as the planning baseline and verify consumption on sea trial. As with the smaller Nordics, the hull rewards slow cruising; at displacement speeds a single 670 hp diesel loafs, while higher speeds raise burn sharply.

A full-beam midship master and an engine room you can stand in

The 54 is offered with two or three staterooms, sleeping four or six. Nordic describes a full-beam, midship master with an equally elegant guest stateroom forward, and two heads. The saloon and galley flow together on the main deck; the 2015 list specifies a U-shaped solid surface galley with a four burner GE electric cooktop, microwave and convection oven, two under-counter refrigerators, dishwasher, ice maker and Sapele cabinetry with push sea locks.

A companionway below leads past a utility room, which holds the 24 volt main distribution panel, a Nova Kool freezer and a washer and dryer, to a large weathertight engine room with standing headroom and locking watertight doors forward and aft. Heating and cooling is a four zone Marine Air reverse cycle system with compressors in the engine room.

• Two or three stateroom layouts
• Full-beam midship master with en suite head
• Utility room with laundry and freezer between cabins and engine room
• Four zone reverse cycle air and heat

Ship-style pilothouse, boat deck and aft docking station

The broad, ship-style pilothouse gives the visibility Nordics are known for and direct access to the boat deck or an optional flybridge. On deck the 54 has recessed walk-around side decks, an integrated boarding platform with telescoping ladder, a 1,000 lb davit, a Lewmar H3 windlass with controls at the bow and the helm, and an aft docking station with engine start, throttle and thruster controls. Diamond Sea Glaze windows and doors are standard.

Freeboard is 6 ft 3 in at the pilothouse and 4 ft 11 in at the cockpit, and the height from waterline to the top of the flybridge with the mast down is 18 ft 2 in, useful numbers if you plan canal or Loop cruising.

Who the 54 is for

The 54 suits couples who want a big, comfortable tug they can still run themselves, and who plan long legs such as Seattle to Alaska or the East Coast to the Bahamas. With 300 gallons of water, 130 gallons of black water capacity and a generous engine room, it is built for weeks away from the dock. It is not a fast boat, and buyers who want to cover ground at 20 knots should look elsewhere.

Ownership costs and the thin used market

Running costs follow a 57 ft overall boat: roughly $60,000 to $110,000 a year for moorage, insurance, haul-outs, engine and generator service, four air conditioning units, canvas and electronics. Fuel is moderate if you cruise slowly.

We estimate used values between about $800,000 and $1.8 million, depending on year and specification, but with so few boats, comparables are scarce. Expect most sales through Nordic dealers and specialist brokers in the Pacific Northwest and Florida.