Multraship - christening of new tugs

In May, Multraship Towage & Salvage named two tugs at a christening ceremony held at its home port of Terneuzen in the Netherlands.

MULTRATUG 5, a Damen Stan Tug 1205 and MULTRATUG 6, a Damen ASD Tug 2810, were immediately entered into service upon delivery to Multraship and are currently in operation in the River Scheldt area.

MULTRATUG 6 is the last Damen ASD Tug 2810 to be built. Following the sale of over 200 vessels it is the Dutch shipbuilder’s most successful design and operates all around the world.

Captain Leendert Muller, Managing Director, Multraship, commented at the ceremony: “We work hard to ensure that our fleet reflects the needs and requirements of our customers and that we are best equipped to provide rapid, reliable and safe towage and salvage services at any time. For this we need to have high-quality tugs with a range of operational capabilities. We are very pleased to formally welcome MULTRATUG 5 and MULTRATUG 6 to our fleet.”

The naming ceremony was attended by many guests from Europe and further afield who, following the ceremony, enjoyed the hospitality of Multraship’s annual Captain’s Dinner party.

Marine Masters' operation in Israel

Marine Masters has successfully removed a collapsed 1200 tonne coal transfer crane and a portion of the associated jetty damaged during extreme weather conditions on 13 March 2023 in Ashkelon, Israel.

The work required removal of all the debris and crane components from the seabed. The team were also able to recover the body of the crane operator who regrettably lost their life during the crane collapse.

Following a tender tender process, Marine Masters was contracted to provide salvage and engineering expertise to ensure that the work had minimal impact on the marine environment in the aftermath of the incident. The engineering team performed frequent inspections of the sister coal transfer crane to assess the likely form of the collapsed crane’s structure.

This allowed them to quickly define exact locations for the subsea cuts by the salvage divers and ensure the structure’s total recovery from the seabed. The team worked rapidly over 7 weeks, despite being impacted by geopolitical conflict, and completed work ahead of schedule.

Danny Spaans, Director of Marine Masters, said: “We are very pleased to have completed this project ahead of the initially estimated schedule. Despite challenges such as the heavily entangled crane and bridge components, significant underwater cutting and access difficulties, the Marine Masters team delivered swift results without compromising safety.”

Their contractor provided barges, anchor handling tugs, and cranes for the project. The team utilised single point lifts wherever possible to ensure that subsea cutting and rigging works were minimised, saving diving time and enabling quicker recovery and removal of the collapsed crane.

Multraship noted that the vessels were delivered during a period of wider fleet expansion - the company has also added two Dutch ERTVs, MULTRASHIP COMMANDER and MULTRASHIP PROTECTOR, and MULTRASALVOR 6, a Damen Multi Cat and salvage support vessel along with another harbour tug, MULTRATUG 9, over the past year.

Following removal of the 25 tonne electric house lift and the 80 tonne heavy mechanical house, a controlled collapse of the remaining crane parts was performed and then all the sections were extracted. The team also removed a 200 tonne damaged section of the jetty and related debris from the seabed.

On 26 April, the MV HIMALAYA - 2,583 tonnes dwt and in ballast, experienced engine failure and sheltered and dropped anchor in the area of Kardamyli/Stoupa, Greece.

On 28 April, Tsavliris dispatched its tug HERMES - 41 tbp - from her salvage station at Patras Port, to assist the casualty. Due to difficulties in heaving up the anchor, it became necessary to cut and buoy the casualty’s anchor chain.

On 29 April, towage to Piraeus Port commenced, arriving on 2 May where the vessel was delivered to two port tugs for immediate berthing at Neo Molo Drapetsonas. On 3 May the operation was successfully completed.

In corporate news, Tsavliris Salvage announced that it has obtained the certification, ISO 22301 by AXIA CERT LTD for Business Continuity Management. Tsavliris said the new certification "demonstrates the commitment for increased resilience, uninterrupted operations and increased capability to handle disruption.”

Additionally, Tsavliris renewed successfully its ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certifications by Bureau Veritas, with a record of zero incidents at sea and marine pollution.

Elsewhere, Tsavliris Salvage received the "Green & Environmental Award" during the "Maria Callas Awards 2023" in Monte Carlo. Andreas A Tsavliris represented the company and received the Award from His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco who is a supporter of green policies and his Foundation has