A new force for Tasmanian towage

TasPorts is the state-owned company charged with operating eleven Tasmanian ports along with Devonport Airport on the island state’s north coast. With 99% of Tasmania’s freight moving through its ports it is important that adequate maritime service provisions are in place to meet demands and in the Rotortug TasPorts has a significant addition to its nine strong tug fleet.

Rotortugs are identified by their triple thruster arrangement, two forward and one aft providing maximum pull in any direction and RT Force was built by ASL Shipyard Singapore in 2010 for Kotug who has remained involved in the 84tbp tug’s career since, including its first commission operated by Teekay Marine Pty at the world’s largest bulk export port, Port of Hedland in Western Australia.

Kotug is also involved in training for the crew as explained by Ard-Jan Kooren, COO of Kotug International B.V and Rotortug B.V: ‘We are very happy that the RT Force has set sail to Tasmania to support the operations of TasPorts. For sure this robust vessel will improve the operations in terms of redundancy, cost savings, faster handling and accurate manoeuvring and enhanced safety. We look forward to a great cooperation. All training, both for the tug crews and marine pilots, has been conducted in Tasmania at the Australian Maritime College under the guidance of Kotug’s dedicated Training & Consultancy division.’

RT Force will operate at the Port of Bell Bay and main characteristics include 32m LOA, breadth of 12.2m and draught 6.2m. Niigata main engines provide 4,962kW in total to the three Niigata ZP-31 thrusters and performance data includes a service speed of 12kn.

TasPorts’ tug fleet is a diverse mix of well-found vessels with an average age of 31 years and typical of the popular designs found in the region from yards in: China, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. Of particular note and youngest in the fleet after RT Force are the RAL Z-Tech 6000 tugs Mount Florance and Yandeyarra both based at Hobart. These 65tbp tugs were built in 2007 and 2008 respectively by Hin Lee (Zhuhai) Shipyard/Cheoy Lee Shipyard with the 27.4m pair providing 3,730kW in total from twin Caterpillar 3056 main engines.

By Peter  Barker