TUGS & SALVAGE

Cummins power for Royal Thai Navy tug

17 years ago

While many navies around the world have withdrawn from the direct ownership of tugs and other auxiliary craft, the Royal Thai Navy has utilised the resources and facilities of its extensive repair yard at Saatahip on the east side of the Gulf of Thailand near Pattaya, to build a tug for its own use.

Named

Sattahip 24

, the new tug was designed by Khiam Chuan Marine Pte Ltd of Singapore and all of the materials for the vessel were purchased through the services of the Thai shipyard Sea Crest Marine Co Ltd. Measuring 27.5m in length, with a beam of 8.5m, the vessel has a moulded depth of 4.15m. Internal tanks have capacity for 107,000 litres of fuel and 30,000 litres of fresh water. ‘H’ bitts are provided on the after deck for towing.

A pair of Cummins, KTA38 M2, main engines were chosen to power the twin-screw propulsion system. Each engine generates 1200bhp at 1800 rev/min to turn a conventional fixed pitch propeller via a ZF W4610 marine gearbox with 5.630:1 reduction ratio. With a total of 2400bhp available Sattahip 24 has a healthy 27.5 tonnes bollard pull.

Also included in the machinery package is a dedicated fire pump engine and two 69 kW generator sets.

The wheelhouse is well laid out with the basic equipment required aboard a harbour tug. Controls and instrumentation is located on the attractive and well laid out console. Controls for the Cummins main engines are mounted on either side of a compass binnacle. Visibility forward to the combined anchor and hawser-handling winch is good with additional windows overhead for ship docking. The crew accommodation is attractive and well outfitted with a small separate galley and a roomy comfortable mess.

This is the first project of its kind undertaken by the Thai navy. The tug was built in nine module blocks at the Saatahip shipyard and then transferred to the yard’s 237m long graving dock where a 90m area had been sectioned off. This allowed the tug to be assembled while freeing the remaining space for repair and maintenance projects. The Port of Saatahip is the home base for much of the Royal Thai Navy including the 11,400-ton displacement Spanish-built vertical/short take off and landing aircraft carrier Chakri Naruebet.