TOWLINES

GSS Marine are based in Scotland but also have an office in the Netherlands at Maasluis to the west of Rotterdam. They have experienced strong growth recently with Marilyn M being the ninth new vessel in five years the company has put into service and it flies the Dutch flag.

At 26.4m long and 11m wide the vessel is powered by twin Caterpillar main engines delivering 3,120bhp. At the working heart of the vessel are two hydraulic deck cranes and three winches including a 100t double-drum anchor handling, and a 50t towing winch.

Following naming of the Damen built ART 80-32 hybrid Rotortug RT Evolution at Tugnology ’15 in London in May, the second European-based example in the class RT Emotion has now been named in Bremerhaven at Kotug’s annual Herring Party. The innovative tug was named by Ms Annika Bootsman-Kleberg, member of the Wallenius Board and granddaughter of Olof Wallenius, Swedish entrepreneur and founder of Wallenius Lines. They were accompanied by family members and friends along with representatives from Kotug and Damen Shipyard Group.

Kotug chose the lady sponsor to express their gratitude for the long-term relationship and also appreciation of Wallenius Lines’ strong focus on innovative and environmental solutions.

As part of their strategic objective to enter new markets, Svitzer Towage have established a new joint venture in an effort to establish a footprint in Malaysia. The objective requires a local structure and the new venture will see Svitzer joining up with SVR Marine Services (M) Sdn Bhd.

Malaysia based SVR Marine Services was established in 2014 and provides agency services for harbour and terminal towage activities. Svitzer (Asia) state they recognise the opportunities presented by Malaysia’s advanced LNG industry and other expanding port operations and aim to provide a new standard of towage under the Malaysian flag with two key priorities, safety and efficient operations.

Reporting a story that will no doubt be returned to, the Netherlands based Seacontractors BV have announced a major expansion in their fleet with the intention to acquire six so-called B-Type workboats from Boskalis Westminster BV. The vessels involved are Smit Bison, Smit Buffalo, Smit Bronco, Smit Barracuda, Smit Beluga and Smit Bulldog.

The series of DMPT 2500 workboats were designed by IHC and built by Damen between 2006 and 2010. They originally wore Smit’s blue and yellow colours but since being taken over by Boskalis now have the grey livery of their new owners. Seacontractors state: “The intended transaction will be executed in mutual cooperation with the involved corporate bodies and will be effected in line with the usual conditions applicable to similar business.”

By Peter Barker