Towlines November 2010

The company has chartered the ASD tug Smit Ahoada from Smit International to operate on the Thames alongside their existing 68 tons bollard pull terminal tug Stanford. Smit Ahoada is a 53 tons bollard pull Damen ASD Tug 3110 terminal tug originally built as part of a batch for use in West Africa. Targe has already succeeded in winning contracts at Tilbury and is seeking further work in the Thames area.

Norwegian operator Boa Offshore AS has purchased four brand new Robert Allan designed Rampart 3200 ASD tugs from Med Marine in Turkey. All four were taken over on the same day, and bear the names Boa Balder, Boa Brage, Boa Heimdal and Boa Njord. The 65 ton bollard pull tugs measure 32.00m in length, with a beam of 11.60m and design draft of 4.19m All four are powered by Caterpillar main engines delivering a total of 5,220 bhp, coupled to Lip CS250 propulsion units. Intended to strengthen Boa’s position in the market, the tugs are equipped for sea towage, shiphandling, salvage, fire fighting and anchor handling.

Two new ‘Rotor Tugs’, the Dorum and Midlum (Towlines – September 2010) arrived in Rotterdam from Singapore as deck cargo aboard the cargo ship Cena Faith in October. Bearing the livery of their operators, German tug owners URAG, the 90 tons bollard pull tugs have been towed to their homeport of Bremen by another tug from the fleet. Both vessels were project managed by Kooren and completed by the ASL Shipyard in Singapore. URAG intend to hold a formally naming ceremony for Dorum and Midlum in early December.

Danish tug operator Nordane Shipping of Svenborg has deployed its two most recent newbuildings, Stevns Battler and Stevns Breaker to the Swedish port of Gothenburg. It has been reported that Nordane has secured work with a new operator in Gothenburg and decided to station the new tugs in the area, using Trans Weco as their local agent. The tugs are now offering tug assistance on the west coast of Sweden. Karsten Pil of Nordane shipping commented, ‘It is our intention to stay in Gothenburg and in time we will extend the service with further tonnage.’ Stevns Battler and its sister ship are 30.8m ASD tugs of 5,434 bhp and 72 tons bollard pull, delivered earlier this year by Irvine Shipbuilding in Halifax, Canada (MJ – Aug 2010). Svitzer, formerly Roda Bolaget, had previously been the single provider of shiphandling services for over 30 years.