New tractor tug design offered by OSD

Recent years have seen increases in activity involving both established and joint venture tug owners engaged in fleet renewal and expansion programmes, a number of factors driving the trend. Tugs are generally sturdily built, intended for long lifespans and this applies particularly where, for instance, small ports operate either directly-owned or independently operated tugs via commercial arrangements, the former having little or no return on investment from income as such.

But of course nothing lasts forever and eventually the onset of age and changing requirements will lead to the need for replacement. Under the heading of changing requirements is an increased expectation for those involved to provide more sophisticated and capable tugs to satisfy the ever-evolving demands for safer operation and also improving efficiency.

In addition, value-added capabilities including fire-fighting and pollution response are now often required. Perhaps the main driver for investment in more powerful tugs is the ever-increasing size of vessels to be assisted, particularly so for container ships along with increasing numbers of LNG terminals and their stringent safety requirements.

So when tug owners go shopping nowadays there are no shortages of both standard and one-off designs on offer in the showrooms, particularly where standard designs are built for stock with final completion offering a range of options depending on the specific role requirements. In this particular case OSD, while presenting just a tractor tug configuration it’s also offering a choice of Voith Schneider cycloidal or azimuth thruster propulsion.

Capable of escort, harbour towage, ship-handling and offshore work the basic model is 33m LOA with a beam of 13.5m with the option of other various sizes. A high forecastle is included along with side hull wings reducing drag, enhancing stability and improving roll-damping.

Tractor tug configuration involves towing over the stern and the wheelhouse design provides a clear view of the afterdeck for towing operations and bow for transit mode. A broad towing staple aft reduces the moment of inclination while the tow wire is under tension. The aft bulwark has an integrated tow pin arrangement and a knuckle-boom crane is fitted with an outreach covering the afterdeck.

OSD offers a range of propulsion option with its new design. The Voith Schneider cycloidal propeller variant is designated the Cyclotrac 3270 model, the version with azimuth thrusters designated Azitrac 3270. The client can specify diesel-electric, hybrid with or without batteries or other drive configurations with an achievable bollard pull of 90t. Both main variants are MLC compliant and can be equipped to fifi1 class notation and accommodation is provided for eight to 12 persons.

By Peter Barker