TOWLINES

For the voyage, the outboard stowages of Evergreen Marine Corp’s Ever Ace were loaded with Evergreen containers and the 399m long, 23,992teu vessel was met by Boluda’s Rotterdam-based tugs VB Cheetah, VB Tiger and Mars and after welcoming the new arrival with a traditional water cannon display assisted it to its berth at ECT’s Delta Terminal. Ever Ace is the first of 12 similarly dimensioned container ships in the series, at the time of writing vessel number two Ever Act had arrived in Rotterdam on its maiden voyage.

Ad Hoc Marine Designs Ltd has announced the award of a two vessel order with AMC Shipyard on the Isle of Wight for what it claims to be the world’s first catamaran tug.

The 9m long Hercules tug/line runners will have a bollard pull of 6t with a twin hull form that has approximately 50% greater stability than an equivalent size monohull. The Yanmar-powered vessels will have a single propeller in a Kort nozzle and a single lift point via a lifting frame arrangement for ease of deployment. Ad Hoc Marine reports that the client has an option for a further six follow on vessels.

Van Wijngaarden Marine Services has expanded its workboat fleet to two with its acquisition of the Neptune Eurocarrier 2712 Aitana B from Zumaia Offshore.

The new addition to the Van Wijngaarden fleet will be renamed Waalstroom and is a typical high-spec multipurpose Neptune workboat featuring 150m2 working deck, two hydraulic cranes, four-point mooring and accommodation for up to 12 persons. Waalstroom’s first mission sees it operating in the Mediterranean.

Damen has announced it is one of seven recipients of the inaugural IDC Future of Digital Innovation award.

US-based International Data Corporation (IDC) made the award for Damen’s Triton programme, a digital platform that collects, analyses and visualises data from any type of connected vessel (including tugs) via 10,000-15,000 sensors which collect data including fuel, fresh water and oil stored on board along with engine performance indicators such as power, RPM and fuel consumption. It is another similar award for Damen’s Triton programme which in 2020 received the CIO Magazine Innovation Award 2020 from the Netherlands ICT Medi