The pioneer of Fort Lauderdale’s marine towing industry, Royden “Red” Koch, died Monday. He was 78.

Mr. Koch, who died of complications from dementia, towed boats with his easily recognizable aluminum boat in Fort Lauderdale for more than 40 years. Red-skinned from tugging boats in the sun, the red-haired Mr. Koch started to tow yachts in South Florida in 1947. He was one of the first and most experienced small tugboat operators in Fort Lauderdale.

He founded Koch Towing Co., which his son-in-law took over after he retired in 1996. The marine towing operator specialized in small freighters under 300 feet and million-dollar yachts, the kind that would use a 20-foot gypsy motorboat for a dinghy.

The Cleveland native saw few competitors until 1983, when the Coast Guard notified boaters throughout the United States that it would be available only for life-threatening emergencies. The number of rescue boats multiplied, but Mr. Koch’s business thrived. And his 32-foot, nickel-colored tugboat, Tug Hero, was easy to spot, because Mr. Koch took meticulous care to keep the unpainted aluminum boat rust-free.

“His ship always looked as if it had just come out of the shipyard ready for a paint job,” said Frank Herhold of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida.

One of the group’s initial members, Mr. Koch was “an institution.” Few knew the New River as well as he, and few had boats so conspicuous.

Tug Hero often could be seen and heard hauling down the New River and the Dania Cutoff Canal.

Mr. Koch got his start towing yachts and commercial vessels along New River and in Port Everglades with a 26-foot wooden Bristol, but eventually wanted something more powerful. So, he spent five years designing and building his famous aluminum tugboat with a 12-cylinder Deutz engine and no silencer. He could hear if anything went wrong.

He built another, Little Hero, from a converted 30-foot U.S. Coast Guard utility boat that his daughter Dianne Koch-Greene later would pilot.

“He was ‘King of the River,'” she said. “That’s where he belonged.”

Memorial services will be at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Fred Hunter’s Funeral Home at 718 S. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale. He is survived by his wife, Nola, and his daughter.

Mr. Koch’s family asks that donations be made to a charity in his memory. His daughter plans to sail his ashes out to sea.