TOWLINES

Designed by Cintranaval-Defcar, the 32.5m vessel has two Caterpillar 3516 C main engines of 4200 kW(total) and Schottel SRP 1515 CP Azimuth propulsion units. The same yard has also launched a 70 tonne bollard pull Robert Allan RAstar 3000 and a 70 tonne bollard pull ASD tug for the same owner, bearing the name Amapola (Bogazici 15). Both tugs will have the same propulsion systems.

It has been confirmed that Iskes Towage & Salvage BV of Ijmuiden has sold the tractor tug Svezia to Svitzer. The tug was originally built in 1988 by Cantieri Navale Ferrari SpA, La Spezia, Italy for Societa Riuniti SpA Genova. Svevia was chartered to Kotug In 1995 and was purchased by them in 1999 and stationed in Bremerhaven and later Rotterdam. Iskes acquired the tug in 2011. The 26.85m tug is powered by two K H Deutz SBV6M628 main engines with a total output of 2,370 kW (3,200 hp) to achieve bollard pull of 45 tonnes and speed of 10.75 knots. No name change has yet been confirmed.

P&O Maritime has boosted its towage services in the Port of Maputo, Mozambique, with the delivery of Sereia, a new 60 tonnes bollard pull ASD tug from the Sanmar shipyard in Turkey. The new tug joins sister ship Bulani, delivered earlier (MJ – Dec 2013). Bulani and Sereia, along with a new pilot boat and a mooring vessel, are part of a US $15 million package of investments P&O Maritime is making as part of its contract with the Port Authority – Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC).

Svitzer Marine Ltd, owner of the ill-fated tug Flying Phantom, has had its appeal against a £1.7m fine related to its sinking rejected. The company lodged an appeal after being fined for failing to ensure the safety of the crew aboard the Greenock based vessel, which sank seven years ago with the loss of three crew members. Svitzer had pleaded guilty at the High Court in Glasgow last year to health and safety failures. The firm also admitted not putting a safe operating procedures in place after an accident involving a tug in 2000. The Flying Phantom sank whilst assisting a bulk carrier on the river Clyde on the 19th of December in 2007.

The historic Dutch oceangoing tug Elbe recently made its first trip carrying commercial passengers. After twelve years of painstaking restoration by dedicated enthusiasts of the Foundation Maritime Collection Rijnmond, the vessel is now certified ‘Lloyd’s class 100 A1 Tug’ with a permit to sail with 80 day passengers. Elbe entered service in 1959 with the deepsea fleet of L Smit of Rotterdam and after a varied career was purchased by the Foundation to save it from the breakers yard. On 6 May May Elbe will depart from Maassluis to sail to Hamburg, on the river Elbe, to participate in the yearly Hafengeburtstag (Harbour birthday) festival.

By Jack Gaston