Independence will be delivered from South China Shipyard of Hong Kong during this month. The new tug is classed by Bureau Veritas; 1 HULL MACH Special Service AHT Unrestricted Navigation and is capable of providing a wide range of offshore services, such as towing, push/pull, anchor-handling, FPSO hose handling and offshore support, oil spill response, fire fighting, salvage, personnel and goods transfer.

The new vessel is 42m in length overall with a breadth moulded of 11m, depth of 4.9m and maximum draft of 4.15m. A large clear after deck has 160 cu/m of space for cargo. Two Cummins QSK60-M-US-UK main engines generate a total of 4,465bhp at 1,800rpm MCR. Power is transmitted to a pair of four blade fixed pitch propellers via Reintjes WAF 763 5.75: 1 reverse/reduction gearboxes. One electrically driven Nicerex bow thruster with 4.3 tons of thrust is fitted and one of 2.5 tons thrust at the stern.

Deck machinery, supplied by Marine Equipment Pte of Singapore, includes the main towing and anchor handling winch; a double drum, electro-hydraulic, waterfall type with a brake holding load of 180 tons and maximum line pull of 65 tons at 0-9 m/min. Each drum can accommodate 1,000m of 52mm diameter steel wire rope (swr).

Also installed is a tugger winch with a 10 ton line pull, a 5 ton capstan and a set of ‘Shark Jaws’ and towing pins. An electrically driven storage reel for spare towing wire can take 1,000m of 52mm swr and a hydraulic deck crane has a maximum lifting capacity of 8 tons at 2m reach or 0.95 tons at 11.6m. Independence has an electronics and navigational aids package to meet the requirements GMDSS sea areas A1 +A2 +A3. The vessel has accommodation for 22 people, including 12 passengers in cabins with private facilities.