BoatU.S. Towing Services responded to more than 60,000 requests for assistance in 2006, an increase of 2.5 percent from the previous year.
Those requests, which include tows back to port, fuel drop-offs, ungroundings and other services, were handled by the organization's 500 TowBoatU.S. and Vessel Assist towboats across the country.
"We added 18 new port locations in 2006 to meet increasing demand," Jerry Cardarelli, vice president of BoatU.S. Towing Services, said in a statement. "Once we open a port, boaters are more inclined to give us a ring when something goes wrong."
More boaters are also using cellphones to request non-emergency help, with cellphone calls to 24-hour call centers increasing 4 percent from 2005.
BoatU.S Towing Services is part of Boat Owners Association of The United States, the nation's leading advocate for recreational boaters.
