One delivery and one launching for Fairplay at Armon

Fairplay X

was h

and

ed over to its owners during the first few days of August

and

on the same occasion sister ship

Fairplay XIV

was put in the water. The pair are powerful

,

compact shiph

and

ling

tugs

,

built to the same basic design as the

Fairplay I

,

Fairplay III

and

two identical tugs

Union Amber

and

Union Jade

,

built for URS in Belgium

in 2007.

Fairplay XIV

is scheduled for delivery in October of this year.

These are small agile tugs of only 25m in length overall

,

with a beam of 11.20m

and

maximum draft of 3.8m.

Fairplay X

and

its sister are classed by Bureau Veritas +100 Hull

,

Tug

,

AUT UMS

,

Ice Ic

,

Unrestricted Service. Unlike the earlier

Fairplay I

and

III

,

the hull design has been altered to incorporate a forward skeg (clearly visible in the photograph of

Fairplay XIV

) intended to enhance course stability when going astern. The latter was developed with the assistance of the Fairplay-owned Buschmann shipyard.

The propulsion system comprises two ABC 8 MDZC four stroke main engines

,

generating a total of 5

,

028 bhp (3

,

700Kw) at 1

,

000 rpm to drive a pair of Schottel SRP 1515 FP fully azimuthing units. A bollard pull of 70 tons is specified along with a free running speed of 12.3 knots. A bunker capacity of approximately 164 cu/m of gasoil gives a range at cruising speed of some 12 days.

An unusual

and

successful feature of this design is the towing gear layout. A single

,

combined

Brusselle

twin drum towing winch

and

anchor windlass on the foredeck is used to tow over the bow or astern as required. The winch has a maximum brake holding load of 180 tons

and

both drums are declutchable. When shiph

and

ling

,

a towline is deployed from one drum of the winch in the usual manner

,

deploying the towline forward through a stainless steel lined fairlead. To tow over the stern a towline is routed through a tunnel beneath the superstructure

and

aft via a substantial deck mounted fairlead. In normal operation one drum will be equipped with a 90m Dyneema towline for shiph

and

ling

over the bow

and

the other a conventional steel wire towline of 52mm diameter for port operation or sea towage. The winch can be controlled remotely from the wheelhouse or from a portable control console on deck. Extensive fendering around the entire vessel is designed to protect the hull whilst operating in the ‘Push Pull’ mode.

The wheelhouse is well equipped with navigational

and

communication equipment to the latest st

and

ards

,

including radar

,

electronic charting

,

DGPS

,

and

a multiple VHF radio installation.

Fairplay X

and

its sister will primarily serve in the ports of Hamburg

,

Rotterdam

and

Antwerp

,

operating with a crew of three. Fully air conditioned accommodation includes three double cabins

and

facilities for up to six persons.

Fairplay X is the sixth tug to carry the name during Fairplay’s 104 years of history. The first Fairplay X was originally built for Carl Tiedemann

,

Hamburg in 1910

and

served until 1950 when it was finally scrapped. The second tug bearing the name was originally built for Wijsmuller of Ijmuiden in 1918

and

after many years of service for Fairplay was scrapped in 1965. A third

Fairplay X

was launched by the Fairplay owned shipyard Theodor Buschmann in 1966 only to be sold to France one year later. In 1967 Fairplay had another seagoing tug named

Fairplay X

which was sold to Engl

and

20 years later. A more recent

Fairplay X

was purchased second h

and

from the UK in 1999

and

resold back to Engl

and

in 2007.