A busy time for Sanmar

The opening earlier this year of its new custom built construction facility in Tuzla Bay near Istanbul has enhanced the building process enormously. Back in August the company reported the launching of five brand new tugs in less than five months, both ASDs and conventional twin screw vessels.

Among the tugs since completed was the Dogancay XXIV. This vessel is the 26th example of the popular and highly successful class of 25.25m twin screw shiphandling tugs to be built by the company since 1999 to a Robert Allan design. Dogancay XXIV was built to serve the Port of Mersin in southern Turkey and is similar but more powerful than its predecessors.

More powerful Caterpillar engines, Reintjes gearboxes and Wärtsilä propellers give the vessel a bollard pull of 45 tonnes. Other modifications over the years have included improvements to crew safety and comfort and significantly reduced sound and vibration levels. The wheelhouse has been updated with more sophisticated electronics.

Another significant completion was Ulupinar XV the first 50 tonne bollard pull version of Sanmar’s Ulupinar class of 24.4m compact ASD tugs, of which ten have been delivered, mainly to overseas clients. The latest upgraded vessel has joined Sanmar’s own tug fleet to operate at the Toros Tarım Ceyhan Terminal.

During the second week of September, authorities from Port Qasim visited Sanmar shipyard in Turkey for the keel laying ceremony for the Sanmar Terminal class 70 tonne bollard pull ASD tug, to be named Kadiro. The vessel will join the fleet of Pakistan’s number two port, Port Muhammad Bin Qasim, located 35km east of Karachi. Commonly known as PQA, it is the country’s deepest port and currently caters for more than 40% of the nation’s seaborne trade. Sanmar will also construct a 20m long, 20 knot pilot boat to be named Lahoot. The order was won following an international open tender competition and delivery is scheduled for March/April 2013.

The Port Qasim tug will be the eighth vessel of its class to be built by Sanmar to the highly successful Robert Allan RAstar 2800 design and very similar to Seaspan Raven, the first of four tugs delivered last year to the Port of Vancouver. The tug will measure 28.20m in length overall, with a beam of 12.50m, and be powered by a pair of Caterpillar 2,000kW Type 3516C diesels driving Rolls-Royce model US 255FP propulsion units.

A similar but more powerful 80 tonne vessel of the same class was launched on 23 October for Solent Towage, a UK subsidiary of Ostensjo Rederi of Norway. Named Lowmax, the tug will be handed over in January/February 2013.

At the time of writing, Sanmar’s order book listed 12 vessels, 10 of which are tugs for delivery in 2013, including two unique LNG fuelled vessels for Norwegian operator Bukser og Bergings and constructed to a Marin design.