TUGS & SALVAGE

Towlines

23 years ago

Well-known propulsion system and component suppliers the Kort PropulsionCompany Ltd and associate Causeway Machinery Ltd have recently relocated to Erith in Kent. First established in 1935, the company has operated from an office in Witham, Essex for the past 15 years. Directors Norman Parsons and Malcolm Breeze have worked together since 1970 and continue to offer their propulsion expertise along with other members of the Kort team Their new contact details for Kort Propulsion and Causeway are as follows: Bank Chambers, Pier Road, Erith, Kent, UK, DA8 1TA Tel: +44 (0) 1322 346346 Fax: +44 (0) 1322 347346 Email; info@kortpropulsion. com The Norwegian oil company Statoil recently awarded a contract to Bukser og Berging to supply and operate three tugs and two mooring launches at its MelkOya liquefied natural gas terminal near Hammerfest in northern Norway. This new tug fleet is being formed to provide towage, escort and mooring services, starting in 2006. The fleet will comprise a powerful escort and shiphandling tug, two harbour tugs with 70 tonnes bollard pull and two line handling boats. It is understood that the new vessels will be built by the Moen Slip yard in Kolvereid, with deliveries taking place during 2005. MelkOya is an onshore LNG plant and terminal linked to Statoils SnOhvit (Snow white) offshore gas field in the Barents Sea, scheduled to come on-line before the end of 2006.

Since the International Salvage Union (ISU) opened its doors to Associate Members on the 1 January this year twenty-three organisations have joined the organisation. Intended to give the ISU a broader forum, Associate Members are drawn from a wide range of professional interests including, insurance, maritime law, shipping and government agencies.

The Finnish tug Herakles and a barge it was pushing, loaded with 13,600 tonnes coal, sank in the Baltic Sea near Uppland after grounding in heavy weather. All eight crew members from the tug were safely evacuated by helicopter.

Herakles , owned by Alfons Hakans , is a 41.21m conventional twin-screw tug of 5500bhp adapted for pushing at sea and was used with the barge Bulk to deliver coal to power stations in the Baltic region. The Swedish Board of Shipping and Navigation has requested that both units are salvaged and removed from the bottom of Grundkallen where they sank for environmental reasons.

Netherlands based Multraship Towage & Salvage has acquired a majority shareholding in VEBO BV , the holding company of Verenigde Bootlieden BV and Vebocab BV , the leading boatman/ mooring service provider in the port of Terneuzen. For Verenigde Bootlieden, the takeover represents a guarantee of its long-term survival and security for their 38 employees. The company specialises in mooring services and in the provision of helmsmen, taxi and waterborne transportation services.