ASD 2810 tugs, image courtesy DAMEN

KOTUG will shortly be putting three Damen ASD 2810 tugs into operation. These tugs were ordered by Elizabeth Ltd in Malta and are being chartered by KOTUG, both part of the Kooren Maritime Services Group (KMS).  Two the tugs will be used in the port of Rotterdam and the third will see service in the port of Hamburg. It’s the first time that Damen Shipyards has built tugs for the KMS Group.

Damen Shipyards and KOTUG have built up a good relationship over the years. Ard-Jan Kooren, CEO of KOTUG, comments:

“We have long known Damen as a repair yard and now we know it as a shipyard as well. This is the first time that we have teamed up with Damen on a new build project. Damen has a top quality portfolio. We needed additional tugs quickly to replace a number of older tugs that we had sold and Damen had them in stock. Within two weeks, we had our tugs. The short delivery time and the quality were the key factors that persuaded us to invest in three tugs at the same time.”

R&D

KOTUG has offices in Rotterdam, Hamburg and Bremerhaven and is represented in the UK, Norway, Australia and Brazil. With a fleet of 30 tugs, KOTUG operates in a variety of markets, including tug work in port and at sea, and the salvage, offshore and dredging industries. Just like Damen, KOTUG has an ongoing R&D programm. The main result of this is the Rotor® Tug concept, based on a configuration of three propulsion units which create a high degree of maneuverability. In addition, KOTUG recently launched its E-KOTUG, the ‘RT Adriaan’, the world’s first hybrid Rotor® Tug.

See the Rotor® Tug promo video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Damen Shipyards Galati

The three ASD 2810s, of which over 80 have now been built, are supplied from stock at Damen Shipyards Galati (Romania) and have been built in accordance with Damen’s standardized shipbuilding method. On delivery, the tug can be modified to meet the customer’s specific requirements. This way of working enables Damen Shipyards to guarantee a fast delivery without compromising on quality. Damen Services arranges transport from Galati to Rotterdam, where Damen hands over the tugs in a turnkey operation, in this case within two weeks from order confirmation.

Signet Weatherly, image courtesy Robert Allan Ltd.

Signet Weatherly is the latest RAmparts 3200 Class ASD from the design board of Robert Allan Ltd.

Recently delivered to her proud owner, Signet Maritime Corporation, the tug will be based in Corpus Christi, Texas and is named after the winner of the 1962 America’s Cup.  The new vessel will enhance Signet’s Gulf operations, providing ship-assist capabilities along with long range towing.

The RAmparts 3200 design is configured for low-manning operation, with a high standard of machinery automation. The vessel is equipped with both a bow winch for ship assist work and a stern winch and tow pins for towing and other operations over the stern, as well as for offshore duties. Extended fuel capacity gives her extended range for towing rigs in and around the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean.

Signet Weatherly was built in accordance with American Bureau of Shipping notation:

•  A1 Tug, Towing Vessel,  AMS Unrestricted Voyages

Particulars of this tug are as follows:

Tank Capacities are:

On trials, Signet Weatherly met or exceeded all performance expectations, with the following results:

The vessel has been outfitted to the highest standards for a crew of up to 10 people. The large main deckhouse contains a spacious galley and mess, and 2 cabins with shared en suite WC for the Chief Engineer and Master. The lower deck contains 3 crew cabins, WC and 2 showers, a galley store and a deck stores room. The wheelhouse is designed for maximum all-round visibility with forward and aft control stations providing maximum visibility to both fore and aft deck working areas.

The deck machinery is comprised of a 50HP Markey DEPC-48 Render / Recover Hawser Winch on the foredeck with a brake holding power of 300,000 lbs. Line pull is rated at 15,000lbs at 100 ft/min and 3,500lbs at 200 ft/min. Maximum stall pull is 40,000lbs. Capacity is 500 ft of 9″ circ. line.

Located on the aft deck is a 100HP Markey TESD-32 side-by-side double drum towing winch with a brake holding capacity of 400,000lbs. and carrying 2300 ft of 2″ dia wire. Maximum line pull at stall is 135,000lbs., with rated capacities of 92,000lbs at 30 ft/min and 11,000lbs at 90 ft/min.

There is a Smith Berger 12T-214 tow pin / roller / hold-down block integrated into the bulwarks aft.

Propulsion comprises a pair of MTU 16V 4000M60 diesel engines, each rated 1760kW at 1800 rpm, driving a pair of Niigata ZP31 Z-drives with 102.4 inch diameter fixed pitch propellers.

The electrical plant comprises 2 Northern Lights M1066 diesel gen-sets, each with power output of 130 kW.

Ship-handling fenders at the bow comprise of one tier of 32 inch hollow rubber fenders with a lower run of 14 inch “W” block fenders. A 14 x 14 inch hollow “D” fender provides protection at the main and foc’sle deck sheer lines, and 14 inch “W” block type fendering is used at the stern.

A small disaster was recently avoided when the Seaward Marine towboat Miss Stacy got swept by the Piscataqua River current and drifted into the Memorial Bridge.

According to Seacost Online there were two people aboard the vessel named Miss Stacy when it began listing to its port side at about 2 p.m. Owned by Seaward Marine Corp. of Virginia, the boat was moving a barge beneath the bridge, which was being dismantled, when it got turned around by the current and became lodged underneath the span. Workers on the tugboat were rescued by people on another vessel before emergency crews arrived, said Assistant Portsmouth Fire Chief Steve Achilles.

The Miss Stacy was flooding due to damage on her hull and listing at a dangerous angle while the Eugenia Moran, a single-screw 2,875-hp vessel operated by Moran Towing, worked to free the vessel. Workboat tells us she was brought to safety at the docks of the local small cruise ship company Isles of Shoals Steamship and that the entire incident lasted about an hour..

Image courtesy Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce Marine has signed a contract to deliver highly efficient engines and propulsion systems for the world’s first Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) powered tugs.

The two vessels have been ordered by Norwegian company Buksér og Berging AS and will enter service in late 2013 for Statoil, the international energy company, and Gassco, the operator of the gas transportation network off the Norwegian coast.

Robert Løseth, Rolls-Royce, Senior VP – Merchant, Propulsion Systems and Engines said:

This is a breakthrough for our Bergen gas engines and cutting edge propulsion technology. The choice our customer has made highlights the industry leading engine performance, fuel consumption and low methane emissions that Rolls-Royce can offer, which is now being applied to tugs.

In addition to two gas engines and a single LNG tank, Rolls-Royce will deliver a mechanical direct driven azimuth propulsion system for each tug that will provide the quickest response time for manoeuvring; which is critically important for tug operators. The combined power and propulsion system will also enable the lowest possible fuel consumption in all operating modes. Rolls-Royce will also provide automation and control systems for the two escort vessels.

Commercial Director at Buksér og Berging AS, Vetle Sverdrup said:

We wanted to base the design of the new tugs on the spark ignition lean burn engine concept, and the ability to accommodate direct drive in addition to a low emission profile. The propulsion system on high performance escort tugs needs to accommodate rapid load pick up over the entire load range. Due to the above we chose to work closely with Rolls-Royce on this project

The scope of supply for Rolls-Royce in this contract is:

• 2x US35 Aquamaster
• 2x Bergen C6 Ing engines, mechanical drive
• RR Acon control and monitoring for gas system
• 1x AGA Cryo LNG tank with LNG system based on two coldboxes

The LNG system is designed by AGA Cryo and integrated with the Rolls-Royce propulsion system. This single tank LNG system has got full gas redundancy approved by NMD (Norwegian Maritime Directorate) i.e. no diesel back up is required.

Operational Benefits:

• Cleaner engine room
• Less waste oil and no “switch over” problems
• Easier to service
• Less maintenance required

The gas engines can operate on low load with out any restriction and have a very quick and step less ramp up time from 0 to 100% load.

Bunkering:
The fuel system is designed for weekly bunkering intervals and the bunkering time is estimated to be 45 minutes. Bunkering will be carried out by the ship’s crew.

Nox emissions are lower at low engines loads, which are the reverse trend of most diesel engines, making it the optimal solution for tugs which are spending most of the time at lower engine loads.

Environmental Benefits Of Spark Ignited Gas Engines:

• 92% reduced NOx emission
• 17% reduced GHG emission
• 98-100% reduced SOx emission
• 98% reduced particulates
• No oil spill during bunkering
• No oil spill in ship engine room bilges
• No sludge from purifiers
• No FO waste-/leak oil
• No FO oil spill, reduced Fire Risk
• Long-term compliance with local port regulations and potential benefits from taxation/green port dues
• Compliant with Tier III regulations

The vessels are designed by Buksér og Berging AS together with Marin Design AS in Kolvareid, Norway. The project was developed in close contact with Rolls-Royce giving Rolls-Royce a unique opportunity to understand and adhere to operational requirements. The vessels have the following specifications:

• Loa:    35.00m
• Lpp:    30,54m
• Bm:     15.40m
• Draft:   7.50m
• Accommodation for 7 persons

The tug Yong Gang Tuo 29 has recently been delivered to her new owners, the Ningbo Port Group of China. This is the 7th Robert Allan Ltd. design in Ningbo’s fleet and the first of the RAmparts 3300 class worldwide. The design is an evolution of the RAmparts 3200 class vessels already in Ningbo’s fleet, and is a result of a recognized need to increase power and bollard pull to meet the expanding requirements of the larger ships visiting the port. Hence this new RAmparts 3300 design is 1 metre longer in order to accommodate the upgraded propulsion system.

The vessel was built by Zhenjiang Shipyard Co. Ltd. of China, specifically for the ship-handling operations in the Ningbo Port area and is classed by the China Classification Society.

Particulars of Yong Gang Tuo 29 are as follows:

On trials the vessel performed exceptionally well, achieving a sustained mean Bollard Pull of 76 metric tonnes ahead, with a free-running speed of 13.5 knots.

Tank capacities in this version of the RAmparts 3300 design are as follows:

Configured as a twin Z-Drive ship-docking tug, main propulsion is by a pair of Niigata 8L28HX diesel engines, each rated 2,206 kW at 750 rpm, and each driving a Niigata ZP-41 drive unit.

The Yong Gang Tuo 29 is equipped with a Karmoy M060481 Hawser winch on the foredeck, driven by an independent electro-hydraulic power pack located in the engine room. The aft deck features a fixed towing staple and a quick-release, pivoting tow hook.

Electrical power is provided by two identical diesel gen-sets, each rated at 100 kWe.

Ship handling fenders comprise an 800 mm cylindrical fender above a row of 450 mm “W” block fenders. A 400mm cylindrical fender provides protection at the main & foc’sle deck sheer lines, in conjunction with aircraft tires. A 450 mm “W” block fender protects the aft quarters. The accommodation has been outfitted to the highest standards for a normal operational crew of 4, with berthing for up to 14. The main deck features cabins for the master and chief engineer, along with a spacious galley and mess areas. The lower deck features 2 cabins of 6 crew and a dedicated HVAC room.

This new RAmparts 3300 class tug is the latest member of the RAmparts family – a series of standardized Z-drive tug designs, each developed from a successful prototype. The vessels are identified by length; e.g. the RAmparts 3000 is 30 metres in length. Each design is individually configurable for a variety of tasks, including; ship-docking, escort, harbour towing, coastal towing, fire-fighting and pollution response. A range of main engine powers and propulsors can be accommodated to meet the specific requirements for each application.

The Ellen McAllister. Photo: McAllister Towing

By Ralph Gardner Jr.

I needed help understanding my serious tugboat fixation. So I turned to someone who I thought might be able to offer some insight, who might even share my minor passion for these workhorses of the sea—Joseph O’Toole, captain of the tug Ellen McAllister.

I inquired whether he’d loved them as far back as he could remember, the way I did. I realize I was being presumptuous, assuming he liked them at all—so what if he skippered one for a living? For all I knew, familiarity breeds contempt, even toward tugs. But it’s my suspicion that many people harbor affection for these little vessels. As opposed to an ocean liner—certainly the current generation, which look more like floating condos than boats—a tug is something you can wrap your imagination around, that you can imbue with all the virtues you wish were easier to uncover in your fellow citizen; they’re competent, uncomplaining, powerful but self-effacing, always ready at the rescue.

Captain O’Toole didn’t jump at the opportunity to join me in the tug lover’s chorus when I floated the idea that my relationship with tugs—and, I wondered, his?—was most likely formed in childhood, and possibly through children’s books. “I grew up in the mountains of Pennsylvania,” he explained, “the anthracite region. The closest I got” to the water “was the Schuylkill River, and it was only 3 feet deep.”

But wasn’t there some kid’s classic that starred a lovable tug? Or maybe I was conflating several other stories—”The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge”; “The Little Engine That Could”; “Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.”

“Books never thrilled me,” the skipper stated inauspiciously.

He explained that he’d developed his familiarity with tugboats during a 24-year Navy career. “I ran these tugs,” he said. “This is an old Navy tug converted into a twin Z-drive.”

Apparently, he meant that the boat’s single “screw,” or propeller, had been replaced by two others that had the ability to rotate 360 degrees. (“They’re highly maneuverable,” said Captain Patrick Kinnier, the port captain for the boat’s owner, McAllister Towing, whose vessels have been plying New York Harbor since 1864. “My comparison would be a fixed-wing aircraft versus a helicopter. It can hover, feather, reverse thrust for backing up.”) Indeed, we were witnessing some of those capabilities at that very moment, as the tug helped pull the gigantic Chinese container ship Yang Ming away from its Newark dock and into Newark Bay.

I was dealing with something of a learning curve. When I boarded the Ellen McAllister, at the company’s dock just across the water in Staten Island, I was handed a life vest and told to report to the kitchen to watch a safety video. Apparently, tugs have the potential to be quite dangerous; the video addressed scenarios such as extinguishing onboard fires and becoming acquainted with the “man overboard” alarm (three long blasts of the ship’s signal). And, whatever you do, never, ever straddle a towing line, which can carry hundreds of thousands of pounds of tension. The video included a very painful-looking simulation of what can happen to tug tourists, such as myself, who do.

When I emerged from the video screening we were already alongside the massive container ship—its hull looming a half-dozen stories above us, its tightly stacked containers another half a dozen beyond that. I wasn’t aware that we’d already dropped off Bob Ellis, McAllister Towing’s pilot, at the boat. Now on the Yang Ming’s bridge, it was Mr. Ellis, rather than the ship’s captain, who was issuing instructions over the radio to our tug, at the ship’s stern, and to a sister tug at its bow.

“We’re going to have to help her around the turn,” Captain O’Toole explained, referring to the point of land that led under the Bayonne Bridge. “We’ll push the stern around. Most ships won’t make it on their own. It’s greater than a 90-degree turn.”

At that point, the tug’s work would be mostly done, except to retrieve Mr. Ellis from the Yang Ming. “He’ll go through the Kills and from there he’ll go to sea,” the captain said of the container ship, and referring to the Kill Van Kull, the strait between Staten Island and Bayonne. Midway through the exercise, he turned the wheel over to Josh Kicklighter, the 26-year-old—but even younger-looking—second skipper on board.

“He replaces me at noon,” Captain O’Toole explained. “I work six to 12. He works 12 to six.”

The crew works two weeks straight and then gets two weeks off, returning home. To my surprise, none of them reside in the New York metropolitan area. When here, they stay on board the tug. “I live in Florida,” Captain O’Toole said. “Josh lives in South Carolina. Daniel lives in Florida. Luke lives in Maine.”

Daniel was Daniel Worrie, a deckhand originally from Jamaica who doubles as the tug’s chef and answers to the name Joe. “We named him Jamaican Joe and he liked it so he kept it,” Captain O’Toole explained. Luke was Luke Hutchinson, the ship’s taciturn but talented engineer.

I asked whether Joe was a good cook.

“He tries hard,” the skipper answered.

What does the typical menu look like?

“Jerk chicken and meat loaf,” Captain O’Toole reported. “Jerk meat loaf. Everything is jerk pretty much. If you don’t like spicy you don’t want to eat here.”

The crew doesn’t make it into Manhattan much, to take advantage of the city’s cultural offerings. “Our job is pretty much 24 hours a day,” Captain O’Toole said, as the 148-foot-tall Yang Ming ducked under the 151-foot Bayonne Bridge. (“At low water you get an extra four and a half,” the captain explained. “We were probably four feet [away] when we went under the bridge.”) The tug nudged up alongside it to retrieve Mr. Ellis. “New York doesn’t stop,” the captain said. “We don’t get a chance to hardly do anything. It’s hard to get food for the boat.”

We turned back and headed toward McAllister’s docks as the Yang Ming continued toward Sandy Hook and out into the open ocean. “He’s going to Norfolk, Virginia,” the captain said. “He’ll hit a few ports on the East Coast, go through the Panama Canal. But he’s too wide for that—the maximum is 965 feet by 105 feet wide. That guy is 132 feet wide. He’ll probably go to Europe, through the Suez, and to the Far East that way.”

(c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Today, the USCG has published its notice of proposed rule making (NPRM) for the towing vessel industry, with hopes to establish a firm set of safety regulations governing the inspection, standards, and safety management systems of towing vessels.  The NPRM includes provisions covering specific electrical and machinery requirements for new and existing vessels, the use and approval of third-party auditors and surveyors, and procedures for obtaining Certificates of Inspection.  The notice also solicits comment and information on potential requirements for hours of service or crew endurance management for mariners aboard towing vessels.

Here is the full press release from the USCG, and the NPRM can be dowloaded HERE.

On June 26, 2011, the Tug Aries sunk in the Bering Sea, about 109 miles East of St. Paul Island. After the crew managed to get from the sinking tug to the barge they were towing, Captain Doug Pine pulled out his iPhone and began taking footage of the rescue. All four members of the crew were safely rescued by the USCG. The Aries was a 68-ft tugboat owned by C&K Marine and was towing a barge bound for Nome, AK when she sunk.

Click here to view the embedded video.

IRSHAD, a joint venture between ADNOC and Lamnalco, have taken delivery of their latest high-performance terminal support/escort tug from Astilleros Balenciaga SA, of Zumaia, Spain. The Alaryam is the latest delivery of the widely acclaimed RAstar Class true escort tug designs from Robert Allan Ltd., Naval Architects of Vancouver, BC., but in fact was the first tug of the RAstar series ever designed. The design was the subject of an extensive series of model testing to prove the concept.

This RAstar 3600 Class vessel was designed to perform a wide range of tasks, including ship-handling, LNG and Oil tanker escort, fire-fighting and oil spill response/recovery duties. The RAstar class hull form ensures the highest standards of both escort towing capability and superior sea-keeping in the heavy sea conditions encountered in these operations.

The Alaryam is classed for unrestricted duty and accordingly was built to Lloyd’s Register of Shipping Class: 100 A1 Escort Tug, Fire-Fighting Ship 1 (2,400 m3/hour), Occasional Oil Recovery Duties LMC, UMS, EP, MCM, and in full compliance with SOLAS and International Loadline regulations.

The particulars of the new tug are as follows:

Length Overall     – 35.80 metres
Beam, Moulded     – 13.50 metres
Depth, Moulded     – 5.92 metres
Operating Draft, Maximum     – 5.87 metres
GRT     – 656

Tank Capacities are:
Fuel Oil     – 284 m³
Potable water     – 30 m³
Fi-Fi foam capacity     – 32 m³

Propulsion comprises a pair of Wärtsilä 8L26 diesel engines, each rated 2600 kW at 1000 rpm, and each driving a Wärtsilä model CS275 controllable pitch Z-drive unit. With this propulsion system, the vessel performance satisfied all expectations, with a recorded Bollard Pull of 84 tonnes and a free-running speed of 14.7 knots.

The Alaryam is very well-equipped for its various towing and escort duties: the fore deck is fitted for typical ship-handling and escort work, with a Karmoy double-drum hawser winch, Karmoy tow-pins and Karmoy anchor windlasses. The winch features a towline render / recover system for escort operations and has capacity for 200 and 150 metres of 76 mm diameter high strength towline.

The aft deck is fitted with a 100 tonne SWL towing bitt and Mampaey towing hook. Also fitted are a 10 tonne capstan, and a hydraulic knuckle-boom deck crane of 15 tonne-metre capacity.

The Alaryam is outfitted to the highest standards for an operating crew of up to twelve (12) persons. Facilities on board include spacious crew rooms for the full complement in two (2) single cabins, each with individual en-suite toilet and shower facilities, and five (5) spacious double cabins. Public spaces include a generous combined lounge/mess area and a fully equipped and modern galley.

In common with the majority of Robert Allan Ltd. designed tugs, a great deal of attention was paid throughout the design process to mitigate the propagation of noise and vibration. This includes the essential resilient mounting of the main engines, isolation of all exhaust system components, and the extensive use of visco-elastic floating floor systems throughout.

The layout of is illustrated on the accompanying General Arrangement drawing.

Illustration courtesy Robert Allan Ltd.

Source: Robert Allan Ltd., Naval Architects