The spacious wheelhouse in this latest version is positioned close to amidships and the exhaust uptakes are positioned to give the tug master excellent all round vision.

'Kintore', 'Keverne' and 'Kindeace' all have similar machinery. Two Niigata 6L28HX main engines produce a total of 4,500 bhp to drive a pair of Niigata ZP-31 fully azimuthing propulsion units fitted with five blade fixed pitch propellers. This arrangement gives the vessels a bollard pull of approximately 65 tons and a free running speed of about 13.5 knots.

Yanmar auxiliary generator sets are installed in all three vessels and comprise one main alternator and one harbour set, with small variations in the ratings. The vessels have two water/foam fire fighting monitors each with an output of 480 m3/hour.

Foreward towing winches are installed on all four tugs in the fleet for ship handling in the push-pull mode. Kincraig, Kintore and Keverne are also equipped with winches aft and steel wire towlines to enable them to undertake coastal and short sea towage operations, over the stern in the normal way.

With all four modern tugs now in service, JP Knight (Caledonian) is able to offer a comprehensive range of services and greater availability than ever before. The new class of tug has proved highly employable, undertaking contract towing, ship handling and offshore operations both locally and elsewhere in north-west Europe.

 Managing director of J P Knight (Caledonian) Ltd, Mr David Offin said, 'While we have no immediate plans for further expansion of the fleet we remain confident that the vessels currently under our control are highly sought after and are optimistic that they will remain fully utilised.'

At the time of writing, three tugs are engaged in ship handling in various UK ports under contract to other operators and the fourth is working on a wind farm project on the north east coast. The recent acquisition of Klyne Tugs Ltd by the J P Knight Group has expanded considerably the type of work and area of operation covered by the organisation as a whole.

An older existing ASD tug, the 'Kinross', was sold last year to the Boluda Group and is now operating as the ‘Corsairo’. This vessel arrived at Invergordon in August 1981 and has remained in constant service until its sale. It was the first Japanese built ASD tug to be employed in Europe and made a significant impact on the towage industry at the time.