TOWLINES

Herman Senior BV has ordered two new Shoalbusters from Damen Hardinxveld. One is a direct replacement for the existing Shoalbuster 2308, Baloe. The hull for that vessel has been delivered to the Hardinxveld yard from Poland for fitting out and delivery is scheduled for the end of May. This new Baloe will be very similar to the existing tug but will have Caterpillar C32 main engines, outward sloping wheelhouse windows and a number of smaller modifications. The second vessel, a new Shoalbuster variant designated 2509, will be an additional tug for the company, due for delivery towards the end of the year.

RiverWijs-Dampier Pty Ltd of Australia, a division of Riverside Marine, has named and taken delivery of two new shallow draft ASD tugs built to serve the LNG terminal in Dampier. The 32.55m vessels, Riverwijs Emma and Riverwijs Rowan, were built to a Robert Allan ASD 32/75 design by ASL Shipyard Pty in Singapore. Identical sisters, they are powered by Niigatta 8L28HX main diesels running at 750 rpm to generate a total of approximately 5,916 bhp. On trials the tugs achieved a bollard pull of 77 tons pulling ahead, 70 tons astern, and a maximum speed of 13 knots.

Stevns Battler and Stevens Breaker, operated by Nordane shipping of Denmark, have been chartered to Svitzer as the Svitzer Nari and Svitzer Nabi respectively. For approximately one year the tugs had been used by Nordane to compete for shiphandling work in the port of Gothenburg. In October 2011 it became clear that competition with Boa Tugs AB and Svitzer made it uneconomic to continue and the vessels were withdrawn. Svitzer Nari and Svitzer Nabi have since been transferred to the UK to support Svitzer shiphandling activities. The sister ships are 30.8m ASD tugs of 5,434 bhp and 72 tons bollard pull, completed by Irvine Shipbuilding in Halifax, Canada in 2010.