Twin deliveries strengthen Turkey’s coastal safety

Many coastal states operate government-sponsored Emergency Towing Vessels (ETVs), the choice of vessel type depending on factors including weather conditions in their area of operation, size and type of passing shipping and the nature of coastal environments at risk.

As such, because vessels may spend part of their time on stand-by duties, other capabilities are sometimes included in their design including fishery patrol and navigational aid maintenance.

An important role for ETVs is protecting the marine environment during shipping casualty situations, particularly when normal commercial towing and salvage provision is not immediately at hand. Turkey of course has to protect its environment, but its geographical location straddling the Bosphorus Strait, which connects the Black Sea with the Aegean and Mediterranean Sea, means any unintended interruption to navigational movement has major implication for the free movement of shipping, requiring rapid intervention.

This latest pair of tugs for Turkey’s Directorate General of Coastal Safety are well suited for the restricted waterways in the region, while also capable of more open-water operations when required.

Proven design

Sanmar’s client has again selected two tugs based on Robert Allan Ltd’s RAstar 2900SX tug, a design exclusive to Sanmar and known by them as the Bigaçay class. Built as Bigaçay XIII and Bigaçay X, the pair were christened recently at a ceremony attended by leading politicians and maritime industry executives with their new operational names Kurtarma 17 and 18 respectively.

The 29.4m long, 13.3m wide pair have a maximum draught of 5.75m and are built with a unique sponsoned hull form stated by the builder as being “proven through model and full-scale testing to significantly enhance escort towing and seakeeping performance.”

Sanmar also has confidence in the duo’s future role suitability, noting they will “make a major contribution to ensuring the safety of maritime operations, including emergency response and assistance towage, around Turkey through the provision of towing, escort, and fire-fighting services.”

Kurtarma 17 and 18 are powered by Caterpillar 3516C main engines producing an “impressive” towing force of 82 tons, both tugs also having a fire pump capacity of 2,714m³/hr. They will join Kurtarma 15 and 16, tugs built to the same design and delivered by Sanmar in 2021.

Sanmar has around 10 examples of the RAstar 2900SX, Bigaçay class listed as delivered or with allocated yard numbers, the completed vessels including Svitzer Sohar, Svitzer Shinas and Svitzer Saham for Svitzer and the Mataquito II for SAAM Chile.

The guests at the christening were welcomed by chairman of the board of Sanmar Shipyards Ali Gürün and vice chairman Cem Seven.

Speaking after the ceremony, Gürün said: “I was delighted to welcome such prestigious guests. Safety is at the heart of everything we do at Sanmar and we are proud to be able to provide our nation’s coastal safety authority with the powerful tools it needs to carry out its vital work.”