TOWLINES

On 6 June 2011 the twin screw tug En Avant 5 of the T Muller Shipping Company capsized and sank in the Old Maas at Dordrecht whilst towing two barges, along with the tug En Avant 7 from the same fleet. The crew were rescued unhurt by a local water bus. As yet, the reason for the accident remains unexplained. En Avant 5 was recovered by two floating sheerlegs the next day. The 21m tug is used to carry out towage operations with barges and marine construction plant on coastal and inland waters. En Avant 5 was built in Singapore in 1998 and is powered by two Cummins KTA-19M diesels delivering a total of 1,074 bhp.

Avra ​​Towage BV of Rotterdam has taken delivery of its latest newbuilding, the 43 tons bollard pull, twin screw tug South Wind. The tug was completed by Vitawani Shipbuilding Sdn of Miri, Sarawak and is very similar to five earlier tugs, North, South, East, West and Northwind, built for Avra in recent years. In common with sister ship North Wind, this latest addition has Cummins KTA 50-M2 main engines with a total of 3,200 bhp driving fixed pitch propellers. South Wind has an open stern and sports a double drum towing and anchor handling winch. Avra Towage operates worldwide and at the time of writing is available for work in Singapore.

It has been announced that as from 1July, the headquarters of Smit Harbour Towage will be relocated in the URS headquarters building in the Italiëlei in Antwerp. The news came in a surprise announcement made by general manager Peter Vierstraete at a recent naming ceremony for two new tugs in Antwerp. URS became part of Smit International several years ago and Smit International was taken over by the dredging giant Boskalis a year ago. The new organisation will be named Smit Harbour Towage NW Europe and the new organisation is the result of the repositioning of Smit Harbour Towage within the Boskalis strategic plan. The commercial and operational divisions of Smit Transport & Heavy Lift, Smit Salvage and Smit Subsea will remain in Rotterdam.

Several management changes in Titan Salvage, a subsidiary of US based Crowley Maritime, include the appointment of Jason Bennett as commercial director, reporting to company vice president Rich Habib. As a member of the company’s senior management team, Jason Bennett will help shape strategic, operational and commercial business initiatives, particularly as they relate to securing salvage, wreck removal and emergency response work for Titan around the world. Also reporting to Rich Habib will be Mark Hoddinott, promoted to Global Director, Marketing and Strategy, responsible for developing, delivering and managing the company’s strategic marketing and business development plans. A third change sees Titan’s Neil Ives promoted to Operations Manager Europe, to manage the sales and marketing effort for the region, pursuing new business, drafting proposals and contracts, supporting the salvage warehouse and operations, and overseeing the administrative requirements in the UK office. All three will operate out of the Newhaven facility.