Towlines March 2010 – by Jack Gaston

Although completed on time and to budget some weeks earlier, delivery was held up for financial reasons. Owned by Starzs Investments, Osayame is a Damen ASD Tug 3211 of 5,605bhp with a bollard pull of almost 70 tons and full fire fighting capability. On arrival in Port Harcourt the tug commenced a five year contract as a support vessel for the oil bunkering services operated by Total Oil.

Svitzer Angola LDA has been contracted by Angola LNG Limited to supply marine services at the Angola LNG terminal to be built in Soyo, Angola. The contract will commence in September 2011 and run for 20 years with options for two additional five year extensions. Five Svitzer S80/33 ASD tugs, two line handling boats, two utility vessels, two patrol boats, one pilot boat and one pollution prevention vessel are under construction. Svitzer Angola LDA will also train local seamen in cooperation with local training organisations and the Svitzer training company, Svitzer Safety Services.

Netherlands based Avra Towage BV has opened a branch office in Singapore to support its worldwide operations. The Avra Shipping Group is active in coastal and deepsea towage, anchor handling, dredging support, buoy maintenance and salvage. In just three years the company has built up a fleet of five new tugs, four ‘North’ class vessels with 32 tons bollard pull, and the 50 tons bollard pull Compass. Two further tugs are nearing completion in a Far East yard. The Northwind, with a 45 tons bollard pull, is now due for delivery this month and will be followed shortly by an unnamed sister ship. Mr Tan Ju Lin has been appointed commercial manager Asia for the Avra Group, based in Singapore. Contact via email: jlt@avra.nl, Tel: +65 626 468 29

The Egyptian port authorities of Alexandria and Damietta have ordered four Voith tractor tugs, two for each port. Both tugs for Alexandria are being built by Egyptian Shipbuilding & Repair and will be 32m in length, with main engines generating a total of 3,840kW to achieve a bollard pull of 55 tons and speed of 13 knots. The pair for the Damietta port authority will be constructed by Timsah Shipbuilding and measure 35m in length but will have identical propulsion systems and performance. All four are scheduled for delivery in the spring of 2011.