A new OSD tug design for Neptune
The new offshore tug for Neptune will be 44m in length and achieve a 70 tons bollard pull.
Offshore Ship Designers (OSD), with headquarters in the Netherlands at Ijmuiden, is to design a new compact but powerful offshore anchorhandling tug/support vessel for the Dutch operator Neptune Marine Services BV.
The order follows close on the heels of a recent contract for the design of two Azistern24/56 tugs for Singapore based Pacific Offshore Engineering and Trading Pte (Towlines April 2011). The key to both designs is that the vessels will have the performance of much larger tugs and offshore support vessels but their smaller size reduces both capital outlay and ongoing operational costs.
The Neptune contract is for the basic and detailed design of a medium size anchorhandling offshore support vessel that will be used for anchor handling, ocean towage and to support wind farm construction projects. With a bollard pull of 70 tons, the vessel is intended for worldwide operation, with high reliability and low maintenance costs. An important feature will be the installation of a dynamic positioning (DP-1) system to give the tug a high degree of station keeping ability. Accommodation will be provided for up to 22 persons.
The twin screw tug will measure 44m on length, with a beam of 13.8m, a depth of 6.1m and maximum draft of 5.3m. Although the final choice of engines has not yet been released, two main engines of 2,100 bhp will be installed to drive a pair of 2.7m diameter propellers, rotating in fixed nozzles. This propulsion system will give the vessel the required bollard pull of 70 tons and a maximum speed of 12.5 knots. Three 350kW transverse thrusters will be installed, two forward and one aft, designed to work in conjunction with the main propulsion system when in DP mode.
The detailed design will be ready by October and the vessel is intended to enter service in the second half of 2012. Construction will take place in Neptune Shipyard in Aalst.
Michiel Wijsmuller, managing director of OSD said, “Size certainly matters, especially when it is related to costs. Wind farm operators need compact but versatile vessels, and the offshore sector needs vessels that are less expensive to operate but equally capable. The answer in both cases is to find a way to squeeze more out of a smaller platform, and that is what these new designs will do.”
It is understood that the new vessel will be operated by Landfall Transport & Towage BV, a joint venture company formed by Neptune Marine Services BV and the Dutch International Towage Company. At present Landfall manage three medium sized anchorhandling tugs, the 42m Neptune Mariner, the 36m Neptun 9 and the most recent addition to the fleet, the Neptun 10. All three were constructed in the Far East, with Neptun 10 delivered in 2010. At the time of writing the Neptune Mariner (43 tons bollard pull) is working under a long term commitment at the Ormonde and Walney wind farms in the Irish Sea. Neptun 9 (42 tons bollard pull) is working out of Ijmuiden in support of Titan Maritime on a high profile wreck removal operation and bigger sister Neptun 10 (52 tons bollard pull) was also in the area being fitted with a powerful new 220 tons/metre deck crane.
Offshore Ship Designers Group (OSD) is a global one stop resource delivering naval architecture and marine engineering skills to the shipping and offshore energy industries. It draws on an experienced global workforce to provide high quality feasibility studies, conceptual and detailed designs for tugs and offshore support vessels of all types.
Images for this article - click to enlarge
Unless otherwise stated, all images copyright © Mercator Media 2012. This does not exclude the owner's assertion of copyright over the material.
