TOWLINES
Italian tug owners Ocean Srl have purchased the Voith tractor tug Bremen from the fleet of German operators Unterweser Reederi AG (URAG) of Bremerhaven. The tug had been employed for some time by URAG associate Lutgen & Reimers in Hamburg as the Accurat but the name Bremen was reinstated before the sale. Bremen is a vessel of 31.36m in length constructed by Peene Werft, Wolgast, and fitted with MAK main engines producing a total of 3,943 bhp to achieve a bollard pull of 46 tons. The tug sailed for Trieste, via Rotterdam, under the Maltese flag.
The ASD tug Seaspan Eagle left the Turkish port of Tuzla and the Sanmar Denizcilik shipyard facility in mid-July on its two month delivery voyage to Vancouver BC, Canada. Seaspan Eagle is sister ship to the Seaspan Raven, delivered to Seaspan International in January of this year. The tug is the second of four to be built for Seaspan to the Sanmar ‘Terminal’ design developed by Robert Allan Ltd and based on the RAstar 2800 design. Seaspan Raven and Seaspan Eagle are tugs of 70 tons bollard pull, completed from ‘stock’ and modified where necessary to suit the customer’s requirements. The second pair, due for delivery in late 2011 and early 2012, will have more powerful engines and an 80 tons bollard pull.
Seattle based Jensen Maritime Consultants Inc have completed the design one of the first tugs to be powered by the latest generation of Tier III Caterpillar C175 low emission engines. Already named Bob Franco, the new vessel is a 36.58m ASD tug for Harley Marine Services and intended to assist barges delivering supplies to rural communities in Alaska. Diversified Marine Inc, in Portland,Oregon will construct the vessel, which is expected to be completed in 2012. Bob Franco will have a crew of 13 and be registered in Seattle. An ASD propulsion system was chosen for its increased manoeuvrability when working with vessels in the many narrow channels and fast tides in Alaska and its ability to easily move alongside barges to help them dock safely in almost any condition.
When the Dutch owned deepsea tug Fairmount Expedition passed through the English Channel on its way from Canada to Rotterdam on 10 August it, went to the assistance of the cargo ship Katja, which had broken down in the shipping lane of the Dover Strait in bad weather. The ship was safely handed over to the Dover harbour tugs and the 75m, 205 tons bollard pull tug continued to Rotterdam and the headquarters of its owner Fairmount Marine for the first time since it was built in 2007. Fairmount Expedition is one of a fleet of five virtually identical tugs equipped for long distance towing, anchorhandling and salvage built, between 2005 and 2007.
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