Damen sell the first Stan Tug 1205 at Seawork - by Jack Gaston
The first sale of a Damen Stan Tug 1205 was made at Seawork and quickly delivered as the Haven Supporter.
Within a day or two of its arrival at the Seawork exhibition in Southampton, Damen Shipyards had sold the first example of the new Stan Tug 1205.
Maritime Journal published a detailed account of this new addition to the Stan Tug range, intended to replace the time honoured Pushycat and Stan Tug 1405, in March of this year. Three of the new vessels were completed by a Damen shipyard in Vietnam and transported to the Netherlands to be marketed in Europe.
Damen Shipyards had decided to show off the new Stan Tug at Seawork in mid-June and the first Stan Tug 1205 on the market in Europe was sold on the exhibition’s second day. Casper Vermeulen, Damen sales manager Europe said, ‘It is rare to sell a vessel directly at a show so we are delighted, especially as she had just come out of the yard.’
The client was British company Red7Marine, a relatively new company created just two years ago when the diving company Anglian Marine and Haven Ports, a civil construction company, joined forces. Bearing the new name Haven Supporter, the 9 ton bollard pull tug will have its home port in Harwich and is likely to be used to move the company’s jack-up barges around the UK.
Red7Marine has several barges and jack-ups that are used mainly in areas that are difficult to access. The company previously chartered tugs when necessary but decided that it was more economical in the longer term to buy its own vessel.
Haven Supporter’s first job is in Cornwall where it will support a project to construct a new pumping station for a sewage plant that can only be accessed by sea. The crew underwent familiarisation training with Damen Services when they arrived in the Netherlands to accept the new vessel.
Although the vessel is now safely on its first job, the speed of the sale did present a few issues. Mr Vermeulen added, ‘When Damen showed the Stan Tug to Red7Marine at Seawork it was still in its most basic form. Damen reacted very quickly to install bunk beds, a radar, a different VHF radio, external fire fighting equipment and 48 car tyres around the vessel for extra protection.
This first Stan Tug 1205 attended Seawork bearing the temporary name Mirte V under the St Vincent flag. Just 13.08m in length, with a beam of 5.28m and draft of 2.00m, the tug attracted considerable attention at the show. Visitors taking a trip aboard the Mirte V were immediately impressed by the extremely low noise levels onboard. At full speed of around 9.5 knots, the Stan Tug 1205 has a noise level of 55 dB(A), a figure quite unique among small tugs and workboats. The wheelhouse is flexibly mounted, along with the Volvo D9 MH main engines. Modern insulating and lining materials, and synthetic rubber flooring is also used to further reduce noise levels.
Damen is confident the new vessel has a great deal of potential, particularly for countries with many smaller ports. Four more tugs of the series are under construction at Damen Shipyards Changde in China which will enable vessels to be delivered at short notice from ‘stock’.
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