One of the latest vessels to be delivered, during the third week of May, was the Al Bateen , one of a number of tugs of various types ordered by the Lamnalco Group.

Al Bateen is the second of the new 'Sanmar Eskort' series of tugs built to the RAmparts 3000 design from Canadian naval architect Robert Allan Ltd. This increasingly popular design, intended for economic series production, has proved to be a highly efficient ship assist/ terminal tug with excellent manoeuvrability. Three more tugs of the same type were recently added to the order book for delivery in 2006, two for European operators and one for Sanmar's own fleet.

Sanmar project director Ali Guran told Maritime Journal that:

'In each new sister vessel we are getting more and more excited to see how exceptional these tugs are performing and we are fortunate to have the professional services of Robert Allan Ltd.

Future vessels of this type will also meet the requirements for 'Oil Recovery' notation under ABS rules.'

Al Bateen is to be operated by IRSHAD (Abu Dhabi Petroleum Ports Operating Co), a company established in1979 as a joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Land Marine National Contracting Company (LAMNALCO). IRSHAD operates and maintains the petroleum and industrial ports of Abu Dhabi and their supporting services.

The new tug was laid down initially to Sanmar's own account as the Sanmar Eskort II , and is very similar to the Sanmar Eskort I , delivered to Rimorchiatori Sardi Srl of Italy a year ago as the Achille Onorato .

Al Bateen is equipped for shiphandling, tanker escort, fire fighting, general towage duties and anchor handling. The tug is 32m in length with a beam of 11.60m and maximum draft of 4.79m, complying fully with the ABS class and notation: - +A1 escort vessel, AMS: ABCU, FiFi 1: Unrestricted Service.

The double chine hull is intended to afford a good flow of water to the propulsion units throughout the operational envelope. It incorporates a long box keel and forward skeg to enhance the vessel's handling characteristics when operating in the indirect mode and increase the steering forces generated during escort operations. The hull has a semi-raised foredeck and is heavily fendered with a mix of heavy rectangular moulded rubber blocks and cylindrical sections.

Dedicated internal tanks can accommodate 196m 3of fuel, 105m 3of fresh water (including the forepeak reserve), 18m 3ofchemical dispersant and 18m 3of foam compound. Other tanks are provided for waste oil and sewage. Towing gear and other equipment can be stowed in a good sized hold located between the engine room and propulsion unit compartment.

A clear working deck aft has a maximum load rating of 5 tons/m 2and can be used to transport up to three standard 20ft ISO containers. The after bulwarks leave a well faired opening for the stern roller, installed for towing, anchor handling and easy access to protective booms and hoses.

The roller is 1m in diameter and 3m in width, with a maximum safe working load of 131 tons, Two Wartsila 6L26 main engines are installed, producing a total of 5,500bhp (4,050kW) at their maximum continuous rating of 1,000rev/min. Power is transmitted to a pair of Rolls Royce US 255 fully azimuthing propulsion units incorporating four blade, controllable pitch propellers of 2,600mm diameter.

The engines are cooled by means of Bloksma box coolers and the two stage exhaust silencers are equipped with spark arrestors.

Considerable thought has been given to noise reduction and the exhaust system and air intake ducts and fans have all received special attention. This propulsion system gives the tug a bollard pull of 69 tons and a maximum free running speed of 14 knots, with little change in performance from ahead to astern.

The engine room is highly automated, in order to comply with ABS rules for un-manned machinery spaces, with computerised monitoring and alarm panels, switchboards and other instrumentation located in a small control room adjacent to the access stairs at the forward end of the engine room. Alarms can also be monitored in the wheelhouse, engineer's cabin and mess room. Electrical power is supplied by two Stamford alternators rated at 175kVA and powered by MAN D2866 LXE diesels located in the centre of the engine room. A smaller Stamford 40kVA generator driven by a Perkins 4GM engine, again supplied to Sanmar by Beta Marine Ltd, is installed on the port side as a harbour set and for emergency use.

The tug meets the standards of FiFi1 for external fire fighting, which includes a self-protection dousing system. Two Norwegian FFS Fire Systems type SFP250X350 fire pumps of 1,200 and 1,350m 3/h capacity supply the system and driven by the main engines via Kumera FGEC-280 step up gearboxes.

One pump has a larger capacity to provide an additional supply for the dousing system. The system incorporates a pair of remotely operated water/foam monitors, also from FFS, which are located on a platform at wheelhouse roof level.

Al Bateen has towing winches fore and aft, supplied by Turkish manufacturer Data Hydraulics, with control hydraulics by Rexroth. The forward winch, used for shiphandling and escort duties, is combined with the anchor windlass and has a single drum with a brake holding capacity of 130 tons, a line pull of 45 tons, and dynamic self-tensioning capability.

The forward towline is 150m length of high performance man made fibre rope. In the bow the towline passes through a 'staple' type fairlead with a stainless steel lining.

A twin drum winch aft is used for anchor handling and general towage duties and has a similar performance, with drums of different sizes. The towing drum is located on the centreline of the vessel and accommodates a 52mm diameter steel wire towline of 700m in length.

A smaller drum situated on the port side of the winch carries a 250m general purpose towline and work wire of the same diameter. Both drums have independent spooling gear and each is provided with a separate inverted 'U' shaped fairlead.

A quick release tow hook is mounted on the fairlead structure and a pair of hydraulically operated tow pins are installed forward of the stern roller.

A hydraulically operated 'knuckle boom' deck crane, built by local manufacturer Ozdortler, is mounted on the starboard side, adjacent to the aft winch. The crane has a lifting capacity of 15 tons/m and is positioned to assist with towing and other equipment on the after deck and facilitates access to the stowage hold. Deck equipment includes a full outfit of lifesaving equipment to meet SOLAS requirements. A davit on the boat deck, aft of the wheelhouse, is used to launch and recover a German built Hatecke 4.5m fibreglass rescue boat. The boat is powered by a 15hp outboard motor and capable of carrying six persons. The davit was manufactured in Turkey by Gurdesan and can be power or manually operated. A second lifting drum enables the davit to be used to handle stores.

The wheelhouse gives the tug master excellent visibility and is accessible from within the accommodation or from the deck. A central control position has two longitudinal consoles, one either side of the 'captains' chair. Controls for the propulsion system and winches fall easily to hand and the consoles also house the main machinery monitoring panels as well as navigational and communications equipment. Two radars are fitted, an autopilot, two GPS sets, a chart plotter, echo sounder, speed log, gyro and magnetic compasses, and an AIS transponder, most of which was supplied by Simrad.

Communications equipment meets the requirements for GMDSS Area 3 with radios by Sailor. Much of the GMDSS equipment is located in a neat navigational station adjacent to the chart table in the aft, port side of the wheelhouse.

Fully air conditioned accommodation is provided for up to ten persons. Two ensuite cabins are provided for the Captain and Chief Engineer along with a ship's office in the superstructure at main deck level while eight crew members are housed below decks in two double and one four berth cabin.

Other facilities include a well fitted mess room, galley, sanitary spaces, dry store, and a drying area for wet weather clothing.

Sanmar has become increasingly successful in gaining a significant market share of the international tug building market and now produces vessels to four Robert Allan designs. Initially it was common practice for Sanmar to add such vessels to their own operational tug fleet and offer them for immediate delivery to other operators. Although this is still the case, the order book now shows a quite different picture.

Five new tugs were completed in 2004, plus one from the Sanmar fleet, and recent deliveries are now in operation in Morocco, Italy, the Baltic Region and Turkey. During 2005 new vessels are destined for France, Germany, the UAE, Kuwait and Turkey.

The company delivered the Dogancay class twin screw tug Lamnalco Wagtail to the offshore services specialist Lamnalco Group earlier in the year as part of a trio. The second of these 3,000hp vessels was delivered at much the same time as the Al Bateen and the third will follow later in the year.