TOWLINES

While based in Dartmouth, Portwey was taken under the command of the Royal Navy during the war and carried out rescues of vessels and their crews involved in enemy action in the Channel. It also assisted landing craft in the river Dart in preparation for the D-Day landings in 1944.

Today the Portwey is preserved and run by a charitable trust and a small group of volunteers and recently while alongside HMS President in London it was saluted by Commander Richard Pethybridge after which the tug sailed to Gravesend to continue its birthday celebrations.

Canadian-based rope cutting tool manufacturer Variators Ltd has developed an emergency fibre-rope cutter aimed at the towage and salvage industries.

The inability of tugs to release their tow line under load in an emergency is sometimes a factor in accidents and with the increasing attractiveness of fibre ropes over steel wire in towing this device has the potential to make life at sea a little safer. The Softline cutter is a lightweight aluminium device on a transverse arm allowing free movement of the rope through the closed mouth. When the cutter is activated the recessed blade is released cutting the rope against the tool’s anvil. Ropes up to 100mm diameter can be accommodated.

Multraship is strengthening its position in the Black Sea with the transfer of its Damen-built tug Multratug 26 to the Bulgarian port of Bourgas for operation by its 100-percent owned subsidiary Bourgas Tug Service.

Multraship has seen a significant growth in its Black Sea operations, mainly in harbour towage and offshore work and believes strongly in the strategic importance of the region. Activity of note includes the Turkish Stream Project involving a natural gas pipeline from southern Russia to Turkey along with its predecessor the South Stream project. The transfer of Multratug 26 will increase the Bourgas fleet to six ASD and Voith-powered tugs.

The handling of VLCCs may be an everyday event in the shiphandling towage world but Signet Maritime Corporation has described its involvement when it assisted the largest tanker ever to call at Port Corpus Christi Texas.

The tanker Anne had a deadweight of 299,533 tons and a length of 331m. Signet provided two RAmpart, two RAstar and a RApport tug totalling 388t of bollard pull to escort the tanker through the Gulf of Mexico, through the network of barrier islands into Corpus Christi bay and handling it at the terminal. Once loading was completed the armada of tugs again assisted in undocking and escorting Anne to the sea buoy.

By Peter Barker