Ridderkerk, the Netherlands based Landfall Marine Contractors has completed an upgrade of one of its anchor-handling tugs in an operation which is expected to see a 10% increase in bollard pull.
The 42m Neptune Mariner recently returned from a wreck removal job in Angola and went to a yard near Rotterdam for modifications which involved the fitting of two new four-bladed propellers, especially designed for the tug’s existing propeller nozzles. The new propellers feature square blade tips increasing the surface area by around 15%.
The engineering department of Van Voorden propeller forge state the bollard pull of the tug will now increase by 10% to 50 metric tons. Two coats of ‘two-component’ antifouling were applied to the vessel’s hull at the same time as the propeller replacement.
Seattle-based Foss Maritime has christened Denise Foss, the second of three Arctic Class tugs at Foss Waterway Seaport in Tacoma, Washington. Built at the Oregon shipyard of Foss Ranier the 100tbp tug is designed for operations in the extreme conditions of the far north and is due to enter service imminently.
The vessel follows the first of class Michele Foss which entered service in 2015 and reported to be performing ‘above and beyond expectations’. The tugs, strengthened to operate in first year ice 1m thick are built to ABS class with the main machinery provided by Caterpillar and Markey Machinery providing the tow winch.
A keel-laying ceremony has taken place at Great Lakes Shipyard in Cleveland, Ohio for the 10 Damen Stan Tug 1907 ICE tugs to be operated by the yard’s affiliate company, The Great Lakes Towing Company.
The overseas order is an important one for Damen being the first such in the USA, the vessels designed and built to comply with USCG Subchapter M regulations under ABS classification. The yard will receive full construction, design and engineering support from Damen who will be able to draw on its experience of having constructed around 200 Damen-designed vessels in the US over recent years. In addition to their Ice Class specification the tugs will be treated with high endurance paint capable of withstanding the abrasion from sailing through ice.
After five years in the post Mark Malone has stepped down from the role of managing director of Svitzer Australia. He remained in post for a period to oversee the transition to the new managing director Steffen Risager who was chief operating officer at the Australian operation since February 2015.
Announcing the new arrangements, Svitzer CEO Robert Uggla said: "Mark has successfully navigated our Australian business through a very difficult period" adding: "Mark has also been instrumental in winning and implementing several important and significant terminal towage contracts with some of the world’s largest energy suppliers, including Chevron, Oil Search and Inpex."
By Peter Barker
