TUGS & SALVAGE

New tugs and fleet changes for Kotug

18 years ago

On 3 June Kotug formally christened the SD Shark and SD Stingray, the first two vessels in a quartet of four new tugs built in Turkey. Both vessels are now in service in Rotterdam and will be joined by the SD Seal, which arrived in the Netherlands on 19 June, and the SD Seahorse, expected towards the end of July.

All four tugs were built at the Medmarine Shipyard in Eregli, Turkey to a Robert Allan RAmparts 3200 design and classed by Bureau Veritas; BV 1+ Hull Mach, Escort Tug FF-1 – water spray, Unrestricted Nav AUT,UMS. The vessels measure 32m in length, 12m beam and have a draft of 5.36m. This well established azimuthing stern drive (ASD) hull design incorporates a raised foredeck, heavily fendered bow and forward quarters and a deep box keel.

Two Caterpillar 3516 main engines develop a total of 4,992 bhp (2×1,920kW) to power a pair of fully steerable Schottel SRP 1515 CP propulsion units incorporating controllable pitch propellers. Performance figures quoted are 65.26 tons bollard pull towing ahead and 60 tons towing astern, and a maximum free running speed of 14.8 knots.

Towing winches are fitted fore and aft. The single drum shiphandling winch on the foredeck carries a 180m towline of 76mm diameter ‘Ultraline’ and a similar winch on the after deck 600m of 51mm steel wire rope (swr). A spare steel wire towline is carried on a reel. Fire fighting equipment to FiFi 1 standards is fitted, including a water spray self protection system, and is supplied by a total pumping capacity of 2,700 cu/m/hr.

These latest additions to the Kotug fleet confirm the growing popularity of this Robert Allan design in western Europe. Various versions of the same basic design are already in use in busy ports in Belgium and the Netherlands and there are more to follow.

On 23 May while on its delivery voyage SD Stingray, the second vessel in the series, was diverted to assist the motor vessel FS Charlotte, disabled with a main engine failure 30 miles west of Vigo. The ship was taken in tow and handed over next day to local tugs from the port of Viano do Castello. SD Stingray thus completed its first commercial tow before arriving in the Netherlands on 28 May.

Other important fleet changes include a further expansion of the Hamburg fleet to five tugs by the transfer of the former Rotterdam based tug SD Jacoba at the end of May. It has also been confirmed that the SD Gironde will further strengthen the Kotug subsidiary SNRH in Le Havre, bringing the total tug fleet to 6 tugs. SD Gironde left Rotterdam to join sisters SD Seine and SD Loire already in Le Havre.