. Hamburg based Fairplay Towage has been awarded ISO 14000:2004 certification for their environmental management system. Accreditation followed an intensive period of preparation prior to certification by Lloyds' Register. Certification covers Fairplay's operational bases in Hamburg, Wismar, Rostock and Rotterdam, the entire tugboat fleet, and a fleet of pontoons stationed in the Baltic. Fairplay already has existing ISM and ISO 9001:2000 certification and is convinced that the ISO 14001:2004 will be beneficial to its business.

. Shetland based tug/workboat company Delta Marine Ltd concentrates on craft of the multicat style but with more powerful engines and heavier deck gear, thus increasing their versatility and enabling them to compete with traditional tugs and workboats. Over the years the size and power of their vessels has increased in line with demand from the dredging and civil engineering community and, more recently, from the renewable energy sector. Following the demand generated by their latest 26m anchor handling vessel Voe Viking, launched in July 2005, a repeat order has been placed with Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld.

The contract will be signed at SMM in Hamburg this month.

The 2,500hp, triple screw, 34 ton bollard pull shallow draft vessel Vor Jarl, to be delivered in May 2007, will be similar to Voe Viking but fitted with a heavier dual capacity (200/17 t/m) Effer cranes, larger (900m) towing winch and increased chill room space for longer trips. Voe Jarl will extend the varied services Currently undertaken by Voe Viking.

. The latest addition to the fleet of Svitzer Marine Ltd in the UK was formally named on the seventh of this month just a few days after its arrival from Singapore where it was built.

Svitzer Stanlow is a Voith Schneider escort tug of 7,174bhp (5,280kW) with a static bollard pull of 70 tons. A vessel of 37.5m in overall length, the new tug will provide active escort services to tankers frequenting the Shell terminal at Tranmere. The tug was formally named by Mrs Carole Rivers, wife of the Shell's refinery manager at Stanlow, and given a name chosen to emphasise the links between Svitzer Marine and the local area of operation, Stanlow. A full account of this important new vessel will appear in the October issue of MJ.