Hunter clocks up the miles for Svendborg

In spite of a lengthy period out of service for a refit, the tug has sailed an impressive 28,055 nautical miles during the short period of ownership.

Originally the Sea Regent, the tug was purchased from Al Jazeera Shipping in Bahrain and immediately renamed Hunter for the delivery voyage from Bahrain to Denmark. A Redwise delivery crew was engaged and a commercial tow arranged with the split hopper barge Ajman from the UAE to Gibraltar, a convenient tow ‘on the way home’ to help pay for the fuel.

The route chosen was through the pirate infested waters of the Gulf of Aden. Considerable effort went into protecting the tug and, with an armed security guard onboard, the passage was made without incident.

The reason for the purchase was a planned fleet regeneration scheme that would allow some of the older single screw tonnage to be replaced by more powerful and more manoeuvrable twin screw vessels. That plan was implemented in spite of the recent uncertain economic conditions. To put things into context, as of April 2005 the average fleet age of Rederiet Junior’s tugs was 31.2 years. By late 2011, the average age had reduced to 10.5 years with the hope of perhaps moving into newbuildings in the future when the markets improve.

This latest acquisition is a conventional twin screw tug of 31.10m in length with a breadth of 9.50m, built by Forward Marine at Sibu, Malaysia. Two Cummins KTA50-M2 engines generate a total of 3,200 bhp to drive twin propellers rotating in fixed nozzles via Twin Disc MG5506 gearboxes. This arrangement gives the vessel a bollard pull of 42.59 tonnes at MCR and a maximum of 44.36 tonnes. It is equipped with an ME double drum waterfall winch, a ME tugger winch, a ME hydraulic deck capstan, and a large stern roller.

Hunter eventually arrived in Svendborg, Denmark, on 4 April 2011 and stayed there until 20 July to allow the first phase of a staged rebuilding process to be carried out. That work was intended to take the Hunter from a conventional twin screw tug of Malaysian build/design to a genuine modern 40+ tonnes bollard pull ‘long-range anchor handling tug’ to match the standards of new European vessels. The new owners have been delighted to discover, from an early stage, that Hunter has excellent sea keeping characteristics and is extremely fuel efficient.

The work carried out in phase one concentrated mainly on improving the living quarters to meet Northern European standards and the rigid conditions required under Danish flag state rules. In Svendborg a small army of technicians and craftsmen transformed the accommodation and carried out other essential work. A large single crew cabin became four new two berth cabins. The remaining cabins, the mess room, sanitary facilities, galley and food storage areas were all improved. Work was also carried out to install fire doors, a new heating system and thermal and acoustic insulation. A centreline fuel tank was converted into a workshop/store.

Another important task was to install additional radio and radar equipment to enable the tug to trade worldwide under GMDSS A3 and Danish Trading Permit rules. A SOLAS approved MOB boat was fitted, along with new towing gear, and an entire navigation light array with Den Haan duplex lights. Phase two is being planned and will start later this year.

With the work completed, Hunter returned to work under the Danish flag and on the International Ship Register. The tug has been fixed on a series of long-range towage operations on the ‘spot market’, taking it increasingly further away from the owner’s ‘comfort zone’ in its traditional trading area of the Baltic and North Sea. Over a dozen operations have been undertaken, including Rio de Janerio to Aliaga in Turkey towing a warship for scrap; St Petersburg to Archangel with a barge; Poole UK to Malta with a barge; and several tows around the Mediterranean.