TUGS & SALVAGE

Supertug for Charter

24 years ago

The 40,000ihp Supertug Fotiy Krylov has been offered for charter. Brokers Marcon International, Inc of Coupeville, WA, USA have been authorised by the Russian Navy to offer for long-term commercial bareboat charter the twin screw, ocean fire fighting salvage tugs Fotiy Krylov and the smaller SB-408.

The Afon Cefnis after deck has a large clear working area protected with hardwood cladding

The 24,480bhp (40,000ihp), 97.6m salvage tug Fotiy Krylov (formerly Tsavliris Giant, and SB-135) was designed in co-operation with Wijsmuller Engineering and is one of the largest, most powerful and sophisticated tugs in the international salvage fleet.

She was originally built in 1989, at a reported cost of approximately US$45m, for the Russian Navy by Hollming Oy of Rauma, Finland. Powered by four Wartsila Vaasa 12V32D main engines driving two 4.6m diameter controllable pitch propellers in fixed Kort nozzles, the tug has a bollard pull of approximately 248 tonnes.

Fotiy Krylov is reputed to have the ability to tow a laden tanker of up to 500,000dwt.

The 7,000bhp (12,000ihp) salvage tug SB-408 (ex-Tsavliris Challenger, ex-Hulk) was built in 1984 by Rauma-Repola Uusika, Finland as one of four Silva class non-ice breaking, ocean-going, salvage tugs.

She is powered by two Zavod Russkiy Pielstick 6PC2-5L-400 main engines producing a total of 7,800bhp at maximum continuous rating, to drive controllable pitch propellers rotating in Kort nozzles to achieve a bollard pull of about 94 tonnes.

Both tugs were previously on charter to the Greek based Tsavliris Group until November 2001 and are now charter-free.

Tsavliris Russ still has Fotiy Krylov’s sister-ship the Nikolay Chiker (ex-SB-131) under charter through JSC Sovfracht. Last year both super-tugs Fotiy Krylov and Nikolay Chiker performed the 16-day tow of Ocean Rig’s brand-new semi-submersible drilling rig Eirik Raude from Pascagoula, Mississippi to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

This was the first time that the two tugs had worked side by side. During 2001, while stationed off Djibouti and under charter to Tsavliris, SB-408 was involved with the tows of the container ship Safemarine Dubai (13,400dwt), the Kitsa (14,600dwt), and Master A II (64,900dwt) after mechanical failures.