This latest addition to the fleet will be deployed in Rotterdam and when sister ship ‘Fairplay I’ is completed in September of this year it will join the company’s fleet in Hamburg.

The name Fairplay III has been used four times In Fairplay’s 102 year history. The first vessel was built in 1897, taken over by Fairplay in the early 1900s and scrapped in 1953. The second was built for Hapag in 1900, taken over and renamed by Fairplay in 1951 and finally scrapped in 1963. The third Fairplay III was one of a series of six sister tugs constructed by the Theodor Buschmann yard (a wholly owned Fairplay subsidiary) in 1963 and finally sold in 2002.

This latest vessel to carry the name bears little resemblance to its predecessors. It is small, the most powerful Fairplay tug yet, and was completed at the Spanish yard of Astilleros Armon in Navia, Spain. The tug is built to comply with Bureau Veritas requirements for BV + Hull + Mach Tug unrestricted service + AUT UMS. Fairplay III and its sister are designed for operation by a crew of three but accommodation is provided for a total of six persons.

Fairplay III has and overall length of only 25.00m and a beam of 11.2m. Two 8 cylinder ABC 8MDZC four stroke engines produce a total of 5,028 bhp (1,850KW each) at 1,000 RPM to power a pair of Schottel SRP1515 fully azimuthing propulsion units. On trials the tug achieved a bollard pull of more than 70 tons and a free running speed of 12 knots.

Two Scania 6 cylinder D 9 95M 10-40 diesels rated at 196kW drive the vessel’s main auxiliary generators to supply the tug’s electrical systems.

A Brusselles SLH150.20/2-2-2 twin drum towing winch has a brake capacity of 1,800kN and is used to tow over bow or stern as required. For shiphandling the tug will work primarily over the bow in ‘push & pull’ mode. One winch drum will carry a 90m Dyneema towline for the purpose and the other will carry a 52mm diameter steel wire towline for port operation or sea towage over the stern. The steel towline is routed through a tunnel below the accommodation to a fairlead on the after deck.

Fairplay Towage has orders with Armon for two other tugs of 80 tons bollard pull, intended primarily for offshore work. Delivery is scheduled for summer and winter 2008.