Damen pairs for different continents

In the second mention of delivery of Damen tugs to owners in Lithuania in this edition of MJ, Towmar Baltic UAB now have two additional vessels in their fleet in the form of the ASD 2810 tugs Tak-10 and Tak-11. Meanwhile on the other side of the Atlantic, the ASD Tug 2411s Svitzer Yuma and Svitzer Freeport recently entered service at Freeport, Grand Bahama.

Towmar Baltic have an interesting background. Their main shareholders are German shipping companies Petersen & Alpers GmbH & Co KG and Neue Schleppdampfschiffsreederei Louis Meyer GmbH & Co. KG. They have chartered and purchased Damen products in the past with two ASD Tug 2810s and an ASD Tug 3111 as part of Towmar SMIT Baltic, a joint venture while operating with Smit. Meanwhile of course shareholder Petersen & Alpers are well established tug owners in their own right whose fleet includes the ASD Tug 2411 Peter and the ASD Tug 2913 Michel (see MJ June 2015).

Tak-10 and Tak-11 are standard off-the-shelf ASD Tug 2810 examples with Towmar Baltic selecting standardised options to enhance the vessels including fire-fighting system, oil-fired heating system and escort notation. Latest hull and skeg designs are incorporated, both vessels heavily built with rigid foundations, extra plate thickness, extra brackets and additional fendering. Main dimensions are LOA 28.67m, beam OA 10.43m and draught aft 4.79m with tank capacities including fuel oil 72m3, fresh water 16.6m3 and foam 6.6m3.

Twin Caterpillar 3516C TA HD/C main engines develop a total of 3,730bKw (5,000bhp) at 1,600 RPM driving Rolls-Royce US 205 azimuth thrusters each with 2,400mm fixed-pitch propellers. Performance figures are quoted as 60.7tbp ahead and 57.9tbp astern with an ahead speed of 13.7kn.

Auxiliary power is provided by two Caterpillar C4.4 TA, 400V, 107kVA, 50Hz gensets. Modern tug engine rooms contain of course other essential auxiliary equipment which can easily miss out on a mention so to complete the list, also included on Tak-10 and Tak-11 are, from Sterling two AKHA 5101 bilge pumps, an AKHA 4101 and AOHA 3101 fuel pump and finally an HBK 111/AOHA 1202 freshwater pressure set. The sewage treatment plant is a Hamann Supermini Plus and Westfalia provide an OTC 2-02-137 fuel oil purifier. A diesel driven pump supplies a 600m3/hr monitor forward on the bridge deck and hydraulic requirements are supplied by two main engine driven pumps.

Towing winches are located forward and aft comprising hydraulically driven two-speed models, the forward example with a split drum and the aft one with a spooling device. Both have a pull of 35t and brake load of 150t. Heila supply a HLM 10-3S crane with built in MW 14 winch. Accommodation is provided for seven persons in three single and two double cabins.

TWO FOR SVITZER
For their Bahamas operation, Svitzer Americas have selected two slightly smaller ASD Tug 2411 designs, Svitzer Yuma and Svitzer Freeport. The difference in their respective roles (with the Towmar pair) is demonstrated with their being equipped for towing mainly over the bow via a hydraulic two-speed split drum winch with maximum pull of 33t and brake load of 150t.

Caterpillar 3516C TA HD/D main engines produce in total 4,200bKW (5,632bhp) which are connected to Rolls-Royce US 255 thrusters with 2,600mm fixed-pitch propellers. The Svitzer pair are therefore slightly more powerful, reflected in the performance figures of a bollard pull ahead of 69.3t and 64.6t astern; speed ahead is 13.3kn.

Dimensions include LOA 24.47m, beam OA 11.33m, draught 5.51m and tank capacities; fuel oil 68.2m3 and fresh water 8.8m3, as there is no requirement for external fire-fighting provision no foam is carried. Auxiliary equipment is similar to the Tak-10 and Tak-11 and again the difference in roles is reflected in the accommodation, the Svitzer pair housing four persons in two single and one double cabin.

By Peter Barker