Tanok a rapid Damen delivery to Intertug

Intertug operates the country’s most modern tug fleet in terms of horsepower and age of the fleet. This latest purchase from Damen is a powerful ASD tug, with well over 80 tonnes bollard pull, designed to meet the high standards required for operation at oil and gas terminals. This latest addition to the fleet will be providing offshore assistance in Dos Bocas for Mexican National Oil Company PEMEX.

Conditions in the booming Latin American market meant that Intertug needed the vessel as soon as possible. Damen was able to offer a delivery time, from stock, of just two weeks. Intertug was also attracted to a vessel that can provide continuous service reliability and a high residual value.

Intertug and Damen have worked together for around 20 years. In common with other vessels purchased in the past, Intertug decided to opt for a financing structure with Damen Customer Finance. Thanks to the excellent track record of both Intertug and Damen’s Customer Finance department, the financing was arranged within the extremely short delivery time of the vessel.

Tanok was built at the Damen Song Cam Shipyard in Vietnam to the very high quality standards which apply throughout the Damen Group. The vessel is a further example of the increasingly popular ASD Tug 3213 ‘big cat class’ first introduced in 2009. Measuring 32.44m in length overall, with a beam of 13.29m, the heavily built tug has a draft of 6.3m

Two Caterpillar C280-8/MC engines generate a total of 7,268 bhp to power a pair of Rolls-Royce US 285 CP azimuthing propulsion units with 3m diameter controllable pitch propellers. On trials Tanok achieved a bollard pull of 86.5 tonnes towing ahead and 80 tonnes astern and a free running speed of almost 14 knots.

The Damen standard ASD 3213 has double drum towing winches fore and aft, a spacious after deck, a large stern roller, hydraulically operated tow pins, a deck crane and fire fighting equipment to FiFi 1 standard. The ASD 3213 also offers high levels of crew comfort and accommodation, one of Intertug’s specific requirements.

Intertug is a family owned company founded in 1993 as a towage company in Cartagena. The company is currently run by two sisters, CEO Arlene Dahl and commercial vice president Vivian Dahl. Ms Vivian Dahl said, “Intertug is actively working on achieving one of the goals set out in its Strategic Plan for the next five years, which is the expansion and growth of the tugboat business in the Latin American markets with a model based on a modern and powerful fleet, operational excellence and the best human resources. Throughout the years, we have established a partnership with Damen because of its high quality standards to support these goals.”

In addition to Tanok, Intertug has ordered one of the newly developed Damen ASD 3212 tugs, scheduled for delivery from Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania at the end of this month.

Since its inception as a tug company, Intertug has also expanded into other related activities. The two sisters embarked on a rapid fleet expansion programme investing in new vessels and now have a fleet of 26 vessels, 13 of which have been designed and built by Damen Shipyards. They include ‘Stan Tugs’ ranging from 40 to 70 tonnes bollard pull and a growing number of ASD tugs, including several Damen ASD Tug 2810s with a 60 tonne bollard pull.