Held on the 11th and 12th of June, Tugnology was planned to coincide with the equally popular Seawork International Exhibition that took place in Southampton the same week. Although the event did not include the extensive exhibition space normally associated with the ITS Conventions, an area was set aside for commercial tabletop displays and this became a popular meeting area during breaks in the proceedings.

The aim of this conference was to discuss a wide range of topics associated with the design, construction and economics of tugs and their operation. At present the towage industry is undergoing the most intense period of new construction in its history and the design and operation of those vessels was foremost in the minds of delegates attending the Southampton gathering. Advertised as a ‘no frills’ event, the conference did however address many highly relevant subjects and the conference hall remained full throughout.

The conference comprised sixteen papers, including a keynote presentation by the well known naval architect and tug designer Mr Robert Allan, president of Robert Allan Ltd of Vancouver. Robert Allan summed up the tone of the event saying, ‘We are facing some unique challenges due to the current period of incredible demand in the market for new tugs. The traditional shipbuilders to the industry are in severe overload, and so many second and third tier shipyards are entering the market. We will be faced with issues of quality and reliability on many of these vessels, and the lessons learned by the better builders may not be available to those buying at some of the less experienced shipyards. The lower costs available in third world shipyards will unfortunately come at a price. However, we will also see some new quality leaders in the tug building industry emerge.

‘The challenges of operating tugs in exposed locations and in severe sea states also present huge challenges in winch and fender technology. The entire industry needs to work closely with the ship owners and shipbuilders to ensure that the entire “system” of tug ship connections is properly engineered to deal with the significant loads now involved. Some research is being undertaken by a few companies to advance the state of our knowledge in this area.

‘The heightened sensitivity of much of the world’s population to environmental pollution issues is another major challenge we must face in the tug industry.

‘We need to ensure that crews are properly trained to deal with the new technologies at both the equipment and the ship level. That applies to existing operators and especially to new entrants to the business. And finally, never has there been a greater need for a uniform set of construction standards and regulations for tugs.’

Delegates presenting papers under the chairmanship of Mike Allen and Andy Smith took up each of those points in detail. Among them was Johan H de Jong of Dutch Maritime Centre Marin, who described the work carried out for the joint industry SAFETUG project. The first phase of the study to research the performance of escort and shiphandling tugs, both ASD and Voith, in exposed locations has been completed and Mr de Jong gave a detailed account of the project and progress so far.

Dr Dirk Jurgens explained the work being done by Voith Turbo Marine Gmbh on water tractor development and new facilities now available at the Voith research centre at Heidenheim.

Dr Markus van der Laan of IMC described the principles of the ‘Safe winch’ a new simple and cost effective render and recover winch being developed with Kraaijfeld Winches. The principle aim of the new winch is to address the problems associated with slack and overloaded towlines.

Canadian consultant Capt Ron Burchett presented a paper on the need for more advanced training for the masters of high tech shiphandling and escort tugs. He advocates a new certification structure and formal training to ensure that both tug owners, crews, pilots and clients derive maximum advantage from modern tugs in terms of safety and efficiency.

Ali Guran and Cem Seven of Sanmar gave a well received account of their business, entitled ‘Building with operational experience’. They described their activities as tug owners and builders in Turkey and the growing popularity of their standard products, based on Robert Allan designs.

Other papers included presentations on fendering, towline technology, marine electronics, fuel management, thruster interaction and the use of CAD/CAM in tug design and construction.

This first ever Tugnology Conference was undoubtedly a great success and provided a unique opportunity for a wide range of interests from the towage sector to meet and do business. It is almost certain that this interim event will be repeated in 2009 and possible venues in Rotterdam and Turkey are known to be under consideration.

The event is sponsored by Samson Ropes, Sanmar Denizcilik and Rolls Royce, and supported by International Tug & Salvage and the European Tugowners’ Association. Last year’s ITS 2006 Convention in Rotterdam drew a record number of delegates and exhibitors, and the organisers report that those figures are likely to be surpassed when the next event is held in Singapore in May 2008.