Tug delivery crews dice with cyclones

The deliveries were carried out under the management ofRedwise Maritime Services BV, with crewing arrangements fixed by Redwise Maritime Recruitment BV.

The tug Raul D, towing the 100.65m long flat top cargo barge Par 10001, was successfully delivered from Lahad Datu in Malaysia via the Cape of Good Hope to Nueva Palmira, at the entrance of the Parana River. During the stretch of the voyage from Singapore to Mauritius the vessel had to slow down and deviate northwesterly for seven days to allow tropical cyclone Claudia to pass in front of the tug and tow. The cyclone had difficulties ‘making up its mind’ and kept nearly stationary for several days before finally heading south and enabling safe continuation of the passage.

At Cape Town a drydocking of the tug was completed before it started on the final leg of the voyage, taking a northerly route to avoid the worst of the South Atlantic weather before the tug and its tow were safely redelivered to their owners.

The low powered estuary aggregate dredger UDC Aqua was safely transferred from Denmark to Bahrain. The vessel had been converted from a general cargo vessel many years ago with a bin construction without bottom doors and an open hatch. Careful passage and weather planning and astute seamanship resulted in a safe and sound mid-winter passage through the Bay of Biscay and a windy Mediterranean. Just after the Suez Canal, and with the assistance of a professional security team to supplement the sailing crew, UDC Aqua safely cleared the pirate infested waters of Somalia. Sixty exiting days after departing from wintery Marstal in Denmark the UDC Aqua was handed over to its new masters at sunny Bahrain.

The newbuild 465 gt, 6,615 bhp Rotortug RT Rotation left the yard ASL Singapore in mid-February for a delivery voyage of 1,678 nautical miles to its new port of operations at Port Hedland in Australia followed by a return voyage with the Z-Tech Sterling for the same clients.

After handing over the RT Rotation to its new owners, the Redwise crew switched over to board the Sterling, which was completing a charter to Teekay. The departure from Port Hedland was however postponed for a couple of days due to the cyclone Rusty, a fitting name at the world largest iron ore port. Rusty was growing in intensity just off the coast due to the extremely warm seawater, even by northwestern Australian standards. After a short period inside the cyclone shelter with the tug on a cyclone mooring, the crew could finally commence a 10 days return passage to Singapore.