URAG boost their Hamburg fleet

Work constructing the two new tugs started immediately upon signing of the contract between Damen and URAG in September 2014. Damen have a global footprint with their construction facilities and building of the two vessels was entrusted to partner shipyard Song Thu (Da Nang) in Vietnam.

Upon completion they formed part of an eight vessel Damen consignment loaded onto SAL Heavy Lift’s cargo vessel Svenja for the long journey to Rotterdam with stops along the way in Brazil and Nigeria. Following discharge in Rotterdam’s Waalhaven they sailed the short distance to Damen Maaskant Shipyard at Stellendam for final inspection and outfitting before handing over to URAG in mid-March.

They sailed soon after for their new home port of Hamburg to join the sister vessel Prompt and operate under the URAG subsidiary Lütgens & Reimers. The ASD 2411 design was particularly chosen for what is described as their “excellent manoeuvrability and outstanding towing capabilities with a bollard pull of 70 tonnes”. At 24.5m in length they are seen as ideal for restricted waterways and open water assignments. Extra thick plate was used in the construction, along with extra brackets and fendering. They are seen as economically efficient in terms of both low fuel consumption and operating costs due to their design and reliability.

Michael Staufeldt, managing director and COO with URAG was closely involved with introduction into service of the two new tugs and speaks about the experience: “They arrived in their new home of Hamburg the following Monday [23 March] at 17.00, by 10.00 the next morning they had all their final certificates and permits to operate in Hamburg Harbour and by 13.30 the same day they both did their first job, with me on board the Brake.” adding: “They now have five and six jobs respectively in their logbooks and are leaving in 15 minutes for their next. It looks like we will perform around 18-20 jobs alone today, which is pretty good for only four tugs! They are really being tested. The crews are very enthusiastic about the new arrivals given their positive experiences with Prompt, and are looking forward to optimising them for their specific duties.”

The port of Hamburg are no strangers to Damen’s tugs, a number of vessels now in operation with several operators in the port. In addition to an existing fleet, this year alone has seen delivery of an ASD 2913 to Petersen & Alpers, and an ATD 2412 for Kotug now joined by these two ASD 2411s for URAG.

By Peter Barker