TUGS & SALVAGE

Sanmar deliver Chieftan to Martinique

18 years ago

Turkish tug builders Sanmar Denizcilik Makine ve Ticaret Ltd of Istanbul has delivered a Dogancay twin screw tug to Somara (Société Martiniquaise de Remorquage et dAssistance) in Fort de France, Martinique. Named Chieftan, this is the nineteenth Dogancay class vessel produced by Sanmar since the design was first introduced a decade ago.

Chieftan

was completed in December 2008 and made the delivery voyage to Martinique under it’s own power.

The Dogancay class tugs are based on a design by Robert Allan Ltd of Vancouver but adapted by the Sanmar team to meet the requirements of individual customers. Designed primarily for ship handling purposes, these vessels are highly versatile and capable of coastal towing and emergency deepsea operations.

Chieftan is now part of Somar’s six tug fleet and operating under the French flag. The 25.25m tug has a beam of 8.60m, a maximum draft 3.80m, a gross tonnage of 239 tons and was built to comply with the class requirements of the American Bureau of Shipping. Two1,650bhp Caterpillar 3512B diesels are coupled to a pair of fixed pitch four blade Lips propellers via Reintjes WAF 665 gearboxes. The propellers rotate within matching, stainless steel lined, fixed nozzles. Two high aspect ratio rudders are mounted behind each nozzle to make this a highly manoeuvrable vessel with a bollard pull of 47.5 tons and a maximum speed of 12 knots.

Particular attention has been paid to fendering aboard Chieftan, and one additional cylindrical moulding has been added to the normal configuration in the bow. A heavy duty, remotely controlled, Rolls-Royce towing winch is installed and equipped with 650m of 40mm diameter steel wire towline.

Other equipment includes a fire fighting system, with a single water/foam monitor located on the wheelhouse roof capable of delivering 650 m³ of water per hour.