The next step in ALP Maritime Services’ expansion plan is underway with their taking over of the first two of six tugs from the fleet of Harms Bergung.
In December 2014 MJ reported on ALP Maritime’s acquisition of six long-distance anchor-handling tugs from Harms Bergung Transport & Heavylift GmbH KG. Soon after, both companies issued press releases relating to legal aspects of the deal; it was suggested we would be returning to the story so here we are again.
ALP Maritime have now taken delivery of two of the tugs in question and re-flagged them to the Dutch flag. ALP Guard and ALP Winger (ex Uranus and Janus respectively) have been repainted in ALP livery and the first assignment for the two new additions is a 55-day voyage towing the SSDR Noble Paul Romano from Las Palmas to Brownsville Texas.
Commencing in 2005, in what at the time was a notable development in the ocean towing world Harms Bergung took delivery of the first of what eventually became a series of nine long-distance anchor handling tugs. They had a fuel capacity sufficient for non-stop trans-Atlantic/Indian and Pacific Ocean towing operations without bunkering stops, all nine were built by Mützelfeldt of Cuxhaven.
The series are divided into three main groups the first, Primus, Pegasus and Centaurus have a output of 8,100bhp and bollard pull of around 100t, Magnus, Taurus, Janus and Ursus are mid-range examples at 19,000bhp and around 200t bollard pull and the two most powerful examples are Uranus and Orcus at 24,500bhp and around 300t bollard pull. The Primus has since passed into the hands of German tug owner URAG and sails as the Bremen Fighter and talking to MJ, ALP Maritime state that the Pegasus and Centaurus will not be part of the transaction.
ALP Maritime Services BV is based in Rotterdam and provides commercial and operational services in the towage, transport and installation market to the offshore oil and gas industry. They made front page news in February 2014 with the announcement that they had entered into an agreement to be acquired by Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. Teekay’s corporate headquarters are in Bermuda, their operational headquarters in Vancouver and their portfolio includes $12bn worth of assets in the offshore oil, gas and tanker industries.
At the time of the agreement with ALP it was announced that together with Ulstein Design & Solutions they had designed four 300t bollard pull ultra-long distance anchor-handling towing vessels to be constructed at Niigata Shipyard in Japan. These SX-157 designs will feature Ulstein’s X-BOW and be known as the ‘ALP Future’ class. We are back to the start in that there are now two strands to the ALP Maritime story that will no doubt be returned to.
By Peter Barker
