New vessels and technology will be put in place to improve the service offered to clients in Boston Harbour and Massachusetts Bay.

.As part of the BP Shipping Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Awards, Targe Towing Ltd has won the BP Shipping Partner of the Year Award. BP chief executive officer Bob Malone awarded a plaque and a cheque for £5,000 to Ta rg e managing director Tom Woolley at the CEO Time Charter Forum earlier this year.

Since being appointed to manage the BP owned tug fleet at Hound Point in 1994, almost 14,000 tug jobs have been completed without a single injury. There have been no DAFWCs, just two MTI's and one First Aid case and no unplanned down time in those 12 years.

Now as the operators of 12 tugs including seven in Scotland, three for BP Shipping at Coryton, England and two in Indonesia, Targe's end of year report to BP Shipping covering some 64 seafarers indicated a Zero ratio for DAFWCs. Except for one FAI at Hound Point, their fleet wide personal safety record for the last three years is Zero in all categories.

.Kotug controlled Societe Nouvelle de Remorquage du Havre (SNRH) has asked the French courts to impose daily fines on the French authorities following their latest refusal to allow the Dutch backed tug company to start operations at Le Havre. SNRH argue that the French authorities are unlawfully preventing it from bringing into service at the port its four full service tugs and a fifth relief vessel. The new fleet has lain idle in Le Havre since 1 January and at the time of writing the matter was still unresolved.

.The Dutch shipyard of Kooiman at Zwijndrecht has been contracted to construct a 29.8m shallow draft anchor handling tug similar to the Dutch Partner completed in 2004 (see MJ, August 2004). Already named ISA, the vessel will be owned by VOF Tugboat ISA - Willem-Harm Mastenbroek.

Two Mitsubishi main engines of 1,591bhp will be installed to give the tug a bollard pull of approximately 40 tons. Delivery is scheduled for the end of this year.

.It has been confirmed that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has approved AP Moller-Maersk's proposal to buy out of towage operator Adsteam Marine. In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, subsidiary SvitzerWijsmuller said the ACCC had advised it did not propose to intervene in this. The deal is conditional on SvitzerWijsmuller acquiring 90% of Adsteam's shares and the approval of the British Foreign Investment Review Board and Office of Fair Trading.