The ABR Company Ltd, organisers of the biennial ITS Conventions, has been formally granted a Guinness World Record for arranging the world’s largest flotilla of tugs. In April of this year the ITS 2006 Tug Parade took place in Rotterdam with a total of 68 tugs taking part. An invited audience of 700 guests at the Rotterdam Cruise Terminal watched the parade of tug spanning three centuries, led by the Dutch Coastguard tug Waker followed by the oldest vessel, the Rosalie, built in 1873. The parade was sponsored by Wärtsilä Corporation, coordinated by the Port of Rotterdam and organized by The ABR Company Ltd. This record presents a real challenge to the port of Singapore that will host the next ITS convention in 2008.

Damen Shipyards, Gorinchem, was awarded a contract in September by North Tugz Limited in Whangerei, New Zealand for one Damen ASD Tug 2411, be built at the Vietnamese Song Cam Shipyard in Haiphong. This will be the first Damen tug to be delivered to a client in New Zealand and represents a significant milestone for the Dutch tug builder, which currently has well over 100 tugs under construction. Damen list 23 of the relatively new ASD 2411, 70 ton bollard pull compact tugs in service, on order or under construction and are due to deliver the vessel to North Tugz at the end of 2007.

Tidewater of New Orleans has announced the sale of ten offshore tugs for a total cash price of $31.5m. The company had previously announced an agreement with Crosby Marine Transportation, LLC for the sale of a total of 14 offshore tugs. The remaining four tugs, worth a further $13.3m, will be handed over as current charter contracts for those vessels expire. Tidewater Inc. owns over 515 vessels, the world's largest fleet serving the global offshore energy industry.