Busy times for Med Marine

Med Marine both builds and operates tugs, often selling on functioning nearly new vessels boasting ‘one careful owner’ with around 200 tug newbuild projects successfully completed to date. Its facilities at Eregli Shipyard produce vessels for its own account and customers, and the six vessels in the latest list of references are all Robert Allan (RAL) designs involving RAmparts and RAstar marque of ASD tugs.

Somat S.p.a. is part of the Cafimar Group, parent of a number of Italian tug-operating companies including Rimorchiatori Laziali and Nemeca Z, a JV company established in 2020 by Fintowage S.r.l. and Zouros Group. Somat holds the licence for towage services in the Sicilian ports of Palermo, Trapani and Marsala, also participating in a consortium that monitors pollution prevention capabilities for the Italian Ministry of the Environment.

Trapani-based Somat has now taken delivery of a RAL RAmparts 2500W ASD tug, completed just six months after contract signing, reflecting the popular trend nowadays for production line construction of shiphandling tugs to allow for quick deliveries, some shipyards building to their own accounts to be held in stock, waiting for a customer with an urgent requirement to call by.

The vessel carries the Med Marine designation MED-A2575 and was chosen by Somat for its wide range of operational capabilities, including terminal escort duties and harbour towage with firefighting capabilities.

Principle specifications include: length 25.2m, beam 12m and draught 5.75m. Performance figures include a bollard pull of 70 tons, speed 11kn and accommodation for seven persons.

Vernicos Scafi

Med Marine has also delivered a Ramparts marque tug to Mediterranean-based tug owner Vernicos Scafi . Describing itself as “one of the oldest existing maritime enterprises in Greece”, it began by transporting people and petroleum barrels across the Bosphorus in rowing and sailing boats in the mid-19th century, and gained its present name following a JV agreement with Italy’s Scafi Società di Navigazione S.p.A in 2019.

Its extensive fleet covers all tug configurations: ASD, Voith, triple screw, twin screw and single screw, and it has now welcomed the RAmparts 2500W Vernicos Scafi III into the family. Med Marine achieved an even quicker delivery time here than the Somat example, just three months after contract signing. The vessel is due to meet the growing demands for Vernicos at the busy port of Piraeus.

Main specifications are similar to Somat’s example, with power provided by two MTU 16V4000M63 main engines developing 4,000kW in total (at 1,800rpm) and meeting IMO Tier II standards. A composite shaft transmits power to Kongsberg US 205S P20 FP azimuth thrusters and accommodation is provided for seven persons.

RAstar 2800 deliveries

The final two items of Med Marine news involve the slightly larger RAstar 2800 series from RAL. The launching of a new tug of this class for Misurata Free Zone in Libya has previously been reported and its subsequent delivery from the Eregli Shipyard followed a “humble yet meaningful event” at its head office, attended by guests including chairman of the Misurata Free Zone Muhsin Sigutri. Med Marine‘s CEO Hakan Şen, general manager Yıldız Bozkurt and sales director Melis Üçüncü were also present.

Svitzer Towage has signed a significant contract with Med Marine for three RAstar 2800 (MED-A2885) tugs, two of which will be deployed in Greece, where Svitzer is setting up an operation to service Gastrade’s Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System LNG terminal. It has not yet been decided where the third vessel will be deployed.

The RAstar series ranges from 27m to 40m in length, the 2800 marque here has a beam of 13m, draught 5.7m, speed 12.5kn and a bollard pull of 80 tons.

The order is another chapter in Svitzer’s long-standing relationship with Med Marine “underpinned by a history of successful projects and the delivery of top-tier vessels” with delivery of the three tugs scheduled for the end of 2023, once again just three months after Med Marine’s reporting of the contract signing.