Rotortugs head east

In August the heavyload carrier Happy Buccaneer left Rotterdam bound for Southeast Asia with a deck cargo comprising three Kotug Rotortugs: RT Champion, RT Leader and RT Tasman. In October they commenced operations assisting vessels at the Brunei LNG Terminal.

The 84tbp Rotortugs will assist in the berthing and sailing of LNG tankers, standby duties during loading operation, and also provision of oil spill response and firefighting services. They are each powered by three Niigata main engines developing 4,962kW in total and meet LR rules for fifi1 standard including 2,400m3/hr with water spray.

When gas reserves were first discovered in the waters of Brunei Darussalam in the 1960s, development was threatened by the distance from potential markets as reserves of this scale were typically piped to nearby customers. As the industry developed including techniques for liquefying the gas and transportation by LNG tankers, so Brunei’s gas production industry became firmly established, similar ventures in Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia being modelled on the Brunei LNG operation.

The supplying of towage and other marine related services at LNG terminals has led to the provision of high standards of safety and environmental factors and Kotug are one of the major towage providers well-equipped to meet the demanding requirements.

Kotug CEO Ard-Jan Kooren said: “We are proud to confirm that with the award of this LNG terminal contract our organization is committed to comply with the most stringent quality and safety requirements in our industry. Our company is expanding its innovative approach in services to ports and terminals around the world. A dedicated service for Brunei Shell Petroleum reflects the strength of Kotug as a leading provider of towage services and will strengthen our global presence.” adding: “This is another significant milestone for us as earlier this year our Joint Venture Company KT Maritime Services Australia PTY Ltd. was awarded the prestigious Shell Prelude Project offshore Australia for three Infield Support Vessels, again based on the successful Rotortug Concept to support the operation of the world’s first Floating Liquefied Natural Gas project.”

By Peter Barker