Tug order boost for Macduff

In a sector dominated by a handful of ship builders, it is worth noting that smaller firms like Macduff can also produce tugs and workboats – and it does very much have a global operation.

Macduff’s ASD tugs range from 19m to 70m and include concept designs. Four recent ASD tug deliveries to international customers have been reported.

Recently, 25m ASD tug PNT Bholu was delivered to the Pakistan Navy by Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works in partnership with UK-based Tor Group, who provided a design, material and supervisory support package. Cummins QSK50-M1 main engines power Schottel SRP 360FP thrusters, delivering a bollard pull of 47t.

PNT Bholu has forward towing winches supplied by DMT Marine Equipment and an aft towing bollard is fitted with a tow hook. The vessel is also equipped for firefighting operations.

The second delivery concerns the 30m ASD harbour and anchor-handling tug Abdul 11, delivered by Torgem Gemi Insaat Sanayii – Istanbul to The Urban Region of the Future in Saudi Arabia. The vessel is powered by twin Caterpillar 3516 main engines driving Kongsberg 205S azimuth thrusters providing a bollard pull of 65t.

DMT again supplied towing winches forward and aft along with smaller winches, capstans and chain stopper. For anchor-handing duties Abdul 11 has a stern roller and sharks jaws and is also firefighting equipped.

Landmark design

Macduff describes the third delivery as “a landmark design”, being the first vessel designed for an Indian owner and built by an Indian shipyard. River Pearl 10 is a 21m ASD tug/service vessel, built by Synergy Shipbuilders in Goa for Knowledge Marine & Engineering Works Limited, a Mumbai-based company that has evolved from a small ship repair business to a dredging and ship-owning company.

Twin Cummins KTA19 M3 main engines develop 1,000bhp in total, powering Hydromaster Z-drives, all supplied by Parikh Power with the contractual requirements of speed 10kn and 10tbp exceeded on trials. River Pearl 10 has a large open working deck with a towing bollard aft fitted with a towing hook. The tug will be deployed at Deendayal Port in Gujarat state in Western India.

Finally, the 30m ASD harbour tug Hope is another product of Torgem shipyard in Turkey, for whom it has been operating since built in 2020. The tug has now changed ownership and as Dalton Hunter is under the ownership of PD Industries for operation on the east coast of Canada.

Dalton Hunter is listed as having twin Yanmar 6EY22AW main engines each developing 1,330kW (1,808bhp) at 900rpm driving thrusters and delivering 45tbp. The vessel has a forward towing winch and aft tow hook and is fully firefighting equipped.

Battery harbour tugs

Another item of news reported previously involving Macduff Ship Design concerns battery electric harbour tugs.

As battery technology evolves, accompanied by vessel owners’ ‘green’ ambitions, the earlier cautious approach to shiphandling tugs employing batteries either pure-electric or battery-hybrid is gaining ground, with larger ship designers and shipyard now actively developing what was previously a concept, generally on a case-by-case basis depending on the tug’s area of operation.

As reported in Maritime Journal, Macduff has spent the last six months working within a consortium of companies including Harland & Wolff, Kongsberg and Swedish energy storage specialist Echandia to develop the concept for a 25.5m, 65tbp ASD battery electric harbour tug.

The vessel “will meet the needs of most in harbour tug operations within the UK in full electric mode” supplemented by two HVO-driven generators for other operations including longer coastal voyages and tows “to ensure a fully green solution to the requirements of this sector”.

A working demonstrator is planned, the consortium hoping to develop the concept to apply to smaller and larger tugs and to other vessel types.