The J P Knight Group, with headquarters in Rochester UK, have sold the anchorhandling tugs Anglian Princess and Anglian Sovereign to Smit Transport Belgium NV.
The sisters ships were originally built for Klyne Tugs (Lowestoft) Ltd in 2002 and 2003 respectively, specifically for use as Emergency Towing Vessels (ETV) to form part of a four tug fleet operated on behalf of the British Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA). The owning company was taken over by JP Knight in its entirety in December 2007.
The contract with the MCA finally ended in 2011 and, due to the UK Government spending review, the ETV fleet was axed. Since that date the tugs have been engaged in a variety of towage operations, including charters with Smit.
At the time the purchase was announced both tugs were under charter to Smit. Anglian Sovereign was deeply involved in the salvage operation to fight the fires and recover the container ship MSC Flaminia, working alongside the Dutch tug Fairmount Expedition and Italian anchorhandler Capo Magno on charter to Smit Salvage. The tug was operating in the Atlantic and western approaches to the English Channel for almost eight weeks. Anglian Princess was operating for Smit off the coast of North Africa.
Anglian Princess and Anglian Sovereign were built by the Yantai Raffles Shipyard in China to a Rolls-Royce Ulstein UT 719-T design for anchorhandling tugs with an emphasis on their towing capability. Almost identical sister ships, they are 67.40m in length and are each powered by two Wartsilla 16v32 LND main engines generating a total of 16,500 bhp to drive twin controllable pitch propellers in fixed nozzles.
Two transverse 800hp bow thrusters, one 900hp stern thruster, high lift rudders controlled independently or in unison and a Rolls-Royce Poscon fully integrated joystick control system give the tugs a high degree of manoeuvrability. The result is a pair of powerful vessels ideally suited to emergency response duties with a maximum bollard pull of 180 tons and a top speed of 17 knots.
Deck machinery includes an Ulstein triple drum towing/anchor handling winch, with one towing drum and two anchor handling drums, with a maximum pull of 300 tons and brake holding power of 450 tons. The main towline comprises 1,500m of 76mm diameter SWR, with a 1,500m spare carried on a powered reel. Two hydraulically powered tugger winches are fitted, each with a capacity of 10 tons. A stern roller and a single set of Karm line handling forks and pins are rated at 500 tons maximum load.
The tugs are also equipped for fire fighting to FiFi 1 standard with two water/foam remotely operated monitors. Oil dispersant equipment, with spray booms are carried and there is provision to carry five tons of chemical dispersant.
Smit are to rename the tugs Union Princess and Union Sovereign. They will be given the familiar blue, yellow and black hull livery and the funnel colours of URS.
