Printer Friendly
Email a Friend
Novatug Establishes Sourcing Consultancy
01 Dec 2006
Novatug, the Rotterdam based specialist behind the design of the revolutionary Carousel towing system for tugboats, has established an international tugboat equipment sourcing consultancy for vessel owners and shipyards.
Rolf Kievits, general manager of Novatug said, ‘There are huge shortages of certain types of equipment in today’s market. But Novatug is in a position to offer a valuable service to help owners and shipyards find the right equipment in the right place, at the right time, at the right price. Over a period of years, in the course of its extensive research and development activities, Novatug has built up a comprehensive database of difficult to access information which could prove invaluable to owners and yards which may be up against tight deadlines and which do not have the time or resources to locate and secure items of equipment which are urgently needed to complete tug building or repair contracts.’
Robert Rodenburg, naval architect at Novatug, added, ‘In the process of developing various tug designs and propulsion lines, Novatug has collected a huge amount of information about the tug building market, particularly in connection with suppliers of propulsion related equipment. In a market characterised by acute supply shortages, this information could prove to be an invaluable resource in trying to meet owners’ building schedules and deadlines.’
Novatug is better known as the driving force behind the innovative Carousel towing system, currently being incorporated into two combi-tugs under construction in Malaysia for Dutch salvage and towage company Multraship.
According to Rolf Kievits 'The beauty of the Carousel construction is that the solution it offers is so logical, and relatively simple. Of course it requires engineering, design work and stress calculations to ensure that everything is fail-safe. But the Carousel construction makes use of basic laws of physics and requires no expensive technology.’
By JACK GASTON
