Veth Propulsion first for Damen tug

The scale of Veth Propulsion’s operation was demonstrated to an invited audience of marine journalists including from MJ during Tugnology 2017 in Rotterdam last year. The tour of the family-owned company’s Papendrecht facility demonstrated however that production of actual thrusters (in many forms) is just part of its total package operation.

Delivery of the Damen-built ASD tug Papillon to de Boer Remorquage SARL of French Guiana, a subsidiary of Dutch Dredging (Baggerbedrijf De Boer from Sliedrecht and Ijmuiden-based Iskes Towage & Salvage) has previously been mentioned in this column and

Veth Propulsion has reported that this is the first tug from Damen Shipyards to be fitted with its Z-drives.

It states that it has had many years of cooperation with Damen in other areas and the trust that has built up between the two ensured its propulsion system would be chosen featuring type VZ-1100A thrusters with Mitsubishi main engines of 1,040kW each.

Martin van der Jagt, general sales manager at Veth Propulsion says: “Veth Propulsion and Damen Shipyards have been working together since the 1980s for the delivery of Veth Z-drives, tunnel bow thrusters and generator sets for different types of vessels. We are very proud that this cooperation is now awarded with the delivery of a Z-drive for an ASD tug.”

The company is not intending just to sit back with this one reference as Martin van der Jagt explains: “Our delivery does not stay with this one tugboat. A new order has already been placed for a multipurpose tug/dredger, the WID 2915 Hybrid. Veth Propulsion will deliver two Veth Hybrid Drives (VZ-1250A-VHD)/1425 kW) and a Tunnel bow thruster (200 kW).”

Taking a more detailed look at Veth’s catalogue and references reveals a company offering a wide range of products and services. It is a dealer for both Scania and Sisu Diesel offering new and reconditioned engines to complement its thruster range while at the other end of the complete package line also producing its own associated electronics control systems and providing nautical training in the operation of its products.

Rudder propellers will be generally associated with the tug sector, but its single and counter-rotating propeller Z-drives range from 61kW up to 2,350kW are also available for: retractable, swing-out, deck-mounted and portable applications as well as the standard hull-mounted version. Veth also offer a surprisingly wide range of thrusters including flush hull-mounted versions popular with inland barges with minimum immersion of the vessel.

By Peter Barker