16 | CONTRACTS & COMPLETIONS
European yards benefit from tug projects Vittoria Shipyard is preparing to deliver a harbour tug from its Italian shipyard in April for Skikda Harbour Authority, Algeria. It launched C869 tug in December 2017, marking the return of tug newbuilding to its Adria facility. This 26 m azimuth stern drive tug will be used for towage and escort activities along the North African coast and in the port of Skikda. It was ordered by the Algerian Ministry of Transport in December 2016 and is classed by Bureau Veritas. It has a full load displacement of around 500 tonnes and bollard pull capacity of 30 tonnes. Its pair of azimuthing thrusters are driven by two medium-speed diesel engines. Vittoria Shipyard is also building a 32 m tug for the Russian Navy for towing nuclear submarines that have been decommissioned to a site for scrapping. Remontowa Shipbuilding in Gdansk, Poland, has won a contract to build two multipurpose vessels with towing capabilities for the country’s Szczecin Maritime Authority. These vessels will be used for maintaining and renewing waterways signage, including buoys, along with hydrographic tasks and emergency
response, which could include fire-fighting, oil recovery and towage. They will replace two 1982-built buoy tenders that are currently operating at the port.
Chinese ports expand tugboat fleets Growth in Asian maritime trade is driving owners and port authorities into ordering more powerful tugs. Chinese shipyards continue to benefit from these orders and are using them to upgrade their design capabilities. This is set to continue as the region starts the Year of the Dog following the Chinese New Year. Tianjin Port in China started increasing its towage capabilities when it ordered four new tugs from Chinese yards in January. It ordered two azimuth stern drive (ASD) tugs from Sanlin Shipyard in Shanghai and two ASD tugs from Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard. Sanlin Shipyard is building two ASD 35/50 tugs and Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard will construct two ASD 40/40 tugs. All four will be built to Robert Allan designs and will be constructed to comply with China Classification Society (CCS) requirements for intelligent ship (i-Ship) notation. This means they will be equipped with smart bridge and engineroom devices, hull lifecycle management, efficiency management and control centre systems. It is understood that these tugs will be the first vessels with i-Ship notation since CCS launched the rules in March 2016. Jiangsu Zhenjiang was busy with other construction orders, using its own ASD tug designs, during Q4 2017 for other Chinese ports. On 18 January, the shipyard delivered Lan Qiao 9, an ASD tugboat with 3,676 kW of power, to Shandong Lanqiao Port. The shipbuilder has another of these ASD tugs and another with 5,120 kW of power to complete during Q1 2018. In November 2017, Jiangsu Zhenjiang delivered a 3,676 kW ASD tug to Qinghuangdao Port. Sanlin Shipyard has experience in building harbour tugs for Asian operators. In 2017, it delivered six RAmparts 3200W ASD tugs, two for POET Investment and four for Talent Shipping Industrial Development.
Tug Technology & Business | 1st Quarter 2018
Vittoria Shipyard launched C869 tug in December 2017
Asian owners invest in LNG tugs Environmental concerns in ports are pushing owners in Japan and Singapore to order newbuild tugs that can be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG). Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has ordered an LNG-fuelled tug from Kanagawa Dockyard. After it is delivered, it is due to be operated by Nihon Tug-Boat in Osaka Bay from Q2 2019. LNG fuel will be supplied by Osaka Gas, which is setting up a bunkering service in the Sakai-Senboku Port. MOL will develop a detachable and portable LNG fuel tank for this tug and expects this concept to be used on other ship types in the future. In Singapore, two dual-fuel LNG harbour tugs are under construction for PSA Marine and due to be delivered in 2019. They will be supplied by Pavilion Gas after it landed the contract in Q4 2017. PSA Marine will benefit from a grant of S$2M (US$1.5M) for each newbuild tug from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, under an initiative to promote LNG bunkering via ship construction projects. TTB
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