3rd Quarter 2018 www.tugtechnologyandbusiness.com
Star Marine unveils a new Middle East escort tug fleet Paraggi is unleashed for Mediterranean towage Spanopoulos expands tugboat fleet to tackle new challenges
“Barges in poor condition could break up and risk pulling tugs over� Erland Ebbersten, vice president for marine operations, GAC, see page 28
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Contents 3rd Quarter 2018 volume 5 issue 3
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6
Regulars 5C OMMENT 6O RDERBOOK ANALYSIS 18 CONTRACTS & COMPLETIONS 72 TECHNOLOGY BRIEFING
Newbuild profile 12 Paraggi has commenced operations for Finarge Armamento Genovese as a powerful and multipurpose escort tug 17 Rosemary McAllister sets the US EPA Tier 4 bar as it begins East Coast operations supporting ultra large container ships
12
Operator profile 21 Spanopoulos has expanded its fleet through acquisitions and newbuildings at its own shipyard for harbour and escort tugs 25 Megatugs is modernising its fleet by purchasing secondhand harbour towage and salvage tugs
Special focus: Middle East 28 GAC has overcome technical and commercial challenges in the region 31 Owners are embracing fleet modernisation 32 Star Marine has started operating four new escort and terminal tugs in Saudi Arabia that were built by Triyards
52
34 Tugs have been ordered for a new shipyard in Saudi Arabia and a new gas terminal in Bahrain 35 Daman has supplied tugs for terminals in Oman and the UAE
Special focus: Northern Europe 36 European owners are investing in new tugs and technology 38 Merged players dominate the European tug market 40 UK fleets are expanded by the addition of ASD newbuildings
Design 42 Piriou adapted its Omni Stern tug designs for the latest harbour towage requirements of Boluda France
71
Harbour towage 44 Tugs of innovative design have been introduced to enhance harbour operations and towage safety 46 Towage good practice guidelines have been updated by the National Workboat Association in response to tug capsizes
Salvage 49 One year on and Kea Trader remains a tough wreck to remove 50 A recovery in demand for salvage tugs masks the profitability issues that owners face in the competitive market
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Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
Contents 3rd Quarter 2018 volume 5 issue 3
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Automation & control
Editor: Martyn Wingrove t: +44 20 8370 1736 e: martyn.wingrove@rivieramm.com
52 Consortia led by Kotug and Rosetti Marino have demonstrated technology for remotely controlling tugs 53 Bridge developments and a merger are unveiled
Propulsion 55 Dual-fuel and Tier 4 engines revealed for workboats 56 Investments, acquisitions and innovations in thrusters 57 Schottel innovations and 2018 deliveries 58 Voith RAVE thrusters and Twin Disc acquires Veth 59 First marine operations for the Veth integrated L-drive; ZF unveils retractable thrusters and hybrid transmission 60 Owners can cut drydocking costs through propulsion monitoring
Training & simulation 62 Operators can save 20-40% of fuel and increase safety by improving tug masters’ skills and competence
Digitalisation 64 Workboat owners are witnessing improvements in fleet management, maintenance and fuel savings when deploying digitalisation
Deck machinery 66 New electric and hydraulic winches enhance escort operations
Project towage 68 Four pusher tugs, four multicats and a series of pontoons were built for Gazprom’s Amur gas project in eastern Russia 70 Tugs handle newbuild hull in the UK and a US$2.3Bn Mediterranean construction project
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Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
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COMMENT | 5
Long may the current surge in newbuild contracts continue
D Martyn Wingrove, Editor
“Power demands, fleet renewal and environmental compliance is driving demand for tug newbuildings”
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emand for new tugboats has soared this year compared to what had been a strong year in 2017. It is a good time to be in the business of tug operating and newbuilding, and especially in the supply of designs and engineroom and deck machinery. There are overarching trends driving the need to order new tugs, many of which are dealt with in depth in this issue. But we have to question whether this demand is sustainable. Owners have ordered new tugs with greater power and performance than in their current fleets. Operators, such as McAllister Towing, have started introducing newbuildings to meet more stringent emissions regulations (see page 17). According to BRL Shipping Consultants, in the first six months of this year, 81 tugs of more than 20 m were ordered from shipyards worldwide (see page 6). This is compared with just 75 ordered throughout last year. This is a strong indication that tug builders have hit a purple patch in contracts. We are likely to go beyond 100 tug orders by end-September, and are likely to reach 150 newbuilding contracts before the end of this year. Shipyards in Asia, Europe and North America have benefited from this surge in orders, mainly for port projects and owners in their own regions, but in some cases for export. Owners need more powerful tugs to handle the ultra-large container ships and crude carriers entering service. They are also required to support gas carriers berthing and unberthing at the rising number of LNG import and export terminals. However, there are only so many ports and terminals that can be commissioned and only a certain number of tugs required for each, therefore I cannot see this surge in orders continuing just to cover this trend. True, a high proportion of the tugboat fleet is ageing and may need replacements for years to come. For example, at our last count around 40% of the fleet of more than 600 oceangoing tugs is
more than 25 years old, according to VesselsValue (Tug Technology & Business, Q2 2018). Therefore, fleet replacement could be a sustainable source for newbuilding orders in the future, but owners are reluctant to scrap the old ones. Another trend that owners consider is linked to IMO’s and national authorities’ drives to reduce emissions from maritime industries and it is this that I think will create a sustainable newbuilding industry. There is growing pressure on ports and shipping to slash emissions. In reaction to this, IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) adopted an initial strategy to reduce GHG emissions from shipping by at least 50% by 2050. MEPC meets again in October to implement this strategy. As the maritime industry looks to cut its carbon footprint, one change that would be visible to the general public would be to minimise emissions from port vessels, which is driving demand for new LNG-fuelled or hybrid-powered tugs. LNG is a cleaner-burning fuel than gasoil or heavy fuel oil, but it is still carbon-based and is expensive to install due to the need for tanks and associated pipework. Given these financial barriers to entry for LNG on small vessels, owners of tugs and port vessels will need to look to hybrid battery propulsion as a solution, using batteries powerful enough to cover the majority of tug operations. There are early adopters of this technology leading to orders for hybrid-powered tugs from Grand Port Maritime de Guyane, Port of Lulea, Rimorchiatori Riuniti, Baydelta Maritime and Petrocity this year. Now we hear that Damen Shipyards has built a hybrid tug on speculation (see page 44). If that goes well more could be built in the series. Therefore a combination of power demands, fleet renewal and environmental compliance is driving demand for tug newbuildings, and long may that continue, but in a sustainable fashion. TTB
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
6 | ORDERBOOK ANALYSIS
Construction and delivery of ATB tugs are thriving in North America
Tug newbuilding soars to record levels Construction of new tugboats of all types is booming worldwide with owners ordering more powerful tugs in first six months of this year than the whole of 2017, writes Barry Luthwaite
N
ewbuilding investment continues at record levels in the tug industry as the global port handling landscape experiences considerable change. Business for constucting tugs exceeding 20 m in length is booming. In Q2 2018, 44 new orders were recorded compared with 37 in Q1 2018.
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
Newbuilding orders have exceeded 2017 levels, as 81 tugs of more than 20 m have been contracted this year compared to 33 in H1 2017. There is no doubt that more than 100 tugs will be ordered by the end of 2018, compared to the 75 tugs ordered last year. This is a result of strategic and market shifts, and technological changes
happening in ship handling. We are about to enter a new phase for ships from the start of 2020 as new environmental legislation kicks in. Shipowners are pinning hopes on a huge ship scrapping programme, dominated by a reluctance to meet the new environmental regulations, opening the way for greener ships to secure ›››
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ORDERBOOK ANALYSIS | 7
TUGS CONTRACTED JANUARY 2018 - JUNE 2018 OVER 20 m Builder/Country
Beneficial Owner
No.
Type
Year Due
Indian Government
4
Harbour Tug
2020
PT Graha Trisaka Industri
1
Harbour Tug
2019
Pertamina
2
Harbour Tug
2018
ASIA INDIA Hindustan Shipyard INDONESIA Persero PT Waruna Nusa Sentana MALAYSIA Berjaya Dockyard Johor Shipyard Tang Tiew Hee & Sons
Malaysian interests
1
Harbour Tug
2019
EA Bunkering Services
1
Harbour Tug
2019
PT Adaro Energy
1
Harbour Tug
2019
Lyttelton Port Co
1
Harbour Tug
2019
Navibulgar
4
Harbour Tug
2019
Spanopoulos
3
Harbour Tug
2019
SINGAPORE ASL Shipyard EUROPE BULGARIA MTG Dolphin OLG GREECE New Hellenic Shipyards NETHERLANDS Damen Gorinchem
Corpetrolsa
3
Harbour Tug
2018
Iskes Towing & Salvage
2
Harbour Tug
2019
Dutch interests
1
Harbour Tug
2018
Goznak Leasing
2
Harbour Tug
2019
Moroccan Port Trust
2
Harbour Tug
2019
Eregli Shipyard
Med Marine Towage
3
Harbour Tug
2019
Med Marine
Rimorchiatori Riuniti
1
Harbour Tug
2019
Medyilmaz
Med Marine Towage
2
Harbour Tug
2019
Perusahaan Pelayaran
4
Harbour Tug
2019
SAAM SMIT Towage
1
Harbour Tug
2019
Jiangsu Suyang Marine Co.
Sotomar
1
Harbour Tug
2019
Jiangsu Suyang Marine Co.
Transbordadora Austral Broom
1
Harbour Tug
2019
Tramarsa
1
Harbour Tug
2018
Tianjin Port Bureau
2
Harbour Tug
2019
PSA Marine
2
Harbour Tug
2019
Tianjin Port Bureau
2
Harbour Tug
2019
Cheoy Lee Shipyards
Cheoy Lee Shipyards
4
Harbour Tug
2019
Cheoy Lee Shipyards
Kotug International
2
Harbour Tug
2019
NYK Line
2
Harbour Tug
2018
Boluda France
2
Harbour Tug
2019
Damen Shipyards
1
Harbour Tug
2019
Damen Shipyards Neptune Shipyards RUSSIA FEDERATION Khabarovsk SPAIN Armon TURKEY
Sanmar Denizcilik Uzmar Shipyard FAR EAST CHINA
Jiangsu Wuxi Jiangsu Zhenjiang PaxOcean Engineering Zhuhai Sanlin Shipyard HONG KONG
JAPAN Keihin Dock VIETNAM Piriou Vietnam MIDDLE EAST UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Damen Sharjah NORTH AMERICA USA Bollinger Shipyards Cenac Marine Services Chesapeake Sb. Inc. Dakota Creek Industries Eastern Shipbuilding Gulf Island Fabricators Gulf Island Shipyards Nichols Brothers Senesco Marine Washburn & Doughty Total
Crowley Maritime
1
ATB
2019
Kirby Inland Marine
4
Harbour Tug
2018
Vane Brothers
4
Harbour Tug
2019
US Navy
4
Harbour Tug
2020
Bisso Offhore
2
Tractor
2019
US Navy
1
Salvage Tug
2020
St Lawrence Seaway Development Corp.
1
Harbour Tug
2019
Baydelta Maritime
1
Harbour Tug
2019
Reinauer Transport.
2
ATB
2019
Harbor Docking & Towing
2
Harbour Tug
2019
81
(Source: BRL Shipping Consultants as of 25 July 2018)
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Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
8 | ORDERBOOK ANALYSIS
TUG ORDERS BY BUILDER REGION
NORTH AMERICA
22
1H 2018
MIDDLE EAST
1 FAR EAST
19 EUROPE
28 SE ASIA
11 ››› preferential charter approvals. These will be larger to gain efficiencies of scale, such as ultra large container carriers, Capesize bulk carriers and very large gas and crude carriers. These require a minimum stipulation of tug numbers, often at least three, for safe berthing. The plethora of business for VLCCs and 174,000-m3 LNG carriers currently knows no bounds with both requiring four tugs at a time, one of which normally acts as an escort. Therefore, more powerful tugs are likely to be required in the future. In reaction to this, owners are requesting new tugs with 80-90 tonnes of bollard pull from shipyards. These are often multipurpose tugs that can cover a variety of towing roles other than port work. Those with anchor handling capabilities can be nominated for offshore delivery tows, which is becoming more prevalent as the offshore oil and gas market is showing signs of recovery after it collapsed three years ago. As a secondary role, these are now proving valuable contracts, giving weeks and even months of employment from shipyard to positioning destination for the towed cargo. However, some caution should be applied to the tug newbuilding sector because highly successful Damen
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
Shipyards has dozens of its standarddesign hulls built on speculation lying at its shipyard sites globally and ready for delivery to owners, in some cases in as little as six weeks. There are also a few worries about future over-capacity as larger ships will mean fewer vessel calls in ports, although more numeric tug attendance compensates to a degree. Smaller vessels up to Handysize in the dry sector fitted with the latest navigational aids enable berthing in several ports without tugs depending on fair weather and location of berth. Harbour authority and pilot decisions are always final arbitrators but it is an increasing trend to save costs.
US orders and delays
Nonetheless, shipbuilders are relishing the need for higher bollard pull tugs for national fleets. It is noticeable how US-based shipbuilders are receiving new construction orders as owners work to comply with new coastguard regulations. Articulated tug-barge (ATB) units are in demand and gaining in number for newbuilding investment. All tug orders in the US are for domestic ownership with some protected by Jones Act funding and privilege. It is rare for any foreign orders to be placed
here. New classes of tugs now taking shape in US shipyards are prepared for handling larger ships, with several able to serve ocean business. LNG is being sourced for tug propulsion, especially those serving as ATBs and fulfilling gas terminal contracts. In addition, a huge US defence spending programme has not neglected multipurpose tugs with naval construction yards prospering. For example, Gulf Island Fabrication is looking at the possibility of orders stretching into 2025. The slow pace of contract negotiations meant that an order for two type Z-tech 30-80 FiFi tugs, originally contracted in May 2017, has only recently received clearance. Deliveries were originally slated for Q4 2018 but that prospect has long disappeared. Both tugs will be equally shared by Bay-Houston Towing and Suderman & Young Towing. Options have since been exercised for two more ATBs, plus options for a further two. The latter will be non-firefighting thus giving a possible order for six tugs, all of which will be escort and terminal tugs. The disappointment caused by the delay was assuaged by a potential large order for a new 43.6-m newly designed salvage tug for the US Navy. An initial order for the prototype was placed at a
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ORDERBOOK ANALYSIS | 11
cost of US$63.6M for delivery in 2020. There are options to build another seven tugs, taking employment at the shipyard into 2025. The builder recently confirmed the addition of contracts valued at US$275M with options secured priced at US$626M.
Pelayaran fleet. Previously three units were delivered by Sanmar but taken over by Dubai Drydocks. Within Indonesia, Persero will build a single tug for PT Graha Trisaka Industri for delivery in 2019, underlining the current ambition of the Indonesian port authorities.
Southeast Asia contracts
Greek newbuildings
Tug owners in Indonesia and Malaysia are rebuilding their cabotage fleets and local yards are gaining a share of tug construction to handle towage. Statebacked owners in both nations have announced plans to substantially increase their tug fleets with modern units. Indonesia’s Pelindo III has already invested in 15 new units built to Robert Allan RAzer ASD designs shared by two local builders (Tug Technology & Business, Q2 2018) and in a separate move, Perusahaan Pelayaran Equinox picked up four new tugs of Robert Allan design from Sanmar, Turkey. This owner, established in 2001, offers a full range of maritime services and offshore and onshore oil and gas terminal services, which require modern tug handling. The quartet of Sanmar tugs are scheduled to be delivered in 2019 and are believed to be the first ever directly owned units in the Perusahaan
In Greece, larger tugs are needed to support ships using the container terminal at Piraeus after COSCO took over ownership and decided to introduce bigger vessels. Until this year, Greek owners have steered clear of ordering newbuildings but necessity may dictate otherwise. Well-established owner Spanopoulos is engaged in ship, equipment and offshore towage and has its own shipyard, New Hellenic Shipyards, situated at Salamis for tug construction. Spanopoulos is building three harbour tugs at this shipyard for employment in 2019. Principal employment will be port towage as well as a variety of other roles to suit the company’s portfolio of services including Mediterranean tows. A selected secondhand programme of acquisitions has been employed while work progresses on the newbuildings in order to keep competitive. TTB
TOP TEN TUGS CONTRACTED 1H 2018, over 20 m (beneficial owner country)
21
USA INDONESIA
8
NETHERLANDS
7
TURKEY
5
BULGARIA
4
CHINA
4
HONG KONG
4
INDIA
4
ECUADOR
3
GREECE
3
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Chinese construction overdrive Chinese shipyards are working in overdrive building tugs for various port and owner requirements, and now on spec. For example, at least four newbuildings in various states of outfitting are available to purchase from one shipyard that is building them on a speculative basis. There has been an increase in tug construction in China for domestic port requirements and for export to international operators this year. Chinese shipyards have secured contracts for at least 15 tugs in the first six months of this year. One unnamed Chinese shipyard has four azimuthing stern drive (ASD) tugs up for sale that can be delivered to an owner in the next three months. These are Robert Allan-designed and ABS-classed escort tugs with unrestricted navigation and firefighting systems on board. These 33-m RAmpart design sister tugs will have 70 tonnes of bollard pull and total power of 4,000 kW. These tugs will have a moulded breadth of 11.6 m and depth of 4.2 m. They will be equipped with two Caterpillar 3516C engines that each delivers around 2,000 kW at 1,600 rpm. They drive a pair of Rolls-Royce US255 fixed pitch azimuthing thrusters. One of these RAmpart escort tugs has been completed and could be delivered around 45 days after a contract has been signed and a deposit paid. Two more tugs are launched and ready for sea trials. They could be delivered in about 60 days after a contract is signed. A fourth tug of this same design would be ready for launch this month and could be delivered from November this year. Although the shipyard has not been named, Cheoy Lee ordered four tugs from its own shipyards this year on a speculative basis. It is also building two harbour tugs for Kotug at its shipyards for delivery in 2019. In July, Cheoy Lee delivered a new harbour tug to the Kenya Port Authority.
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
12 | NEWBUILD PROFILE
Paraggi has a top speed of 13 knots and 70 tonnes of bollard pull
Paraggi unleashed for advanced escort operations W
hen a subsidiary of Italian tugboat owner Rimorchiatori Riuniti took delivery of Paraggi from a Turkish shipbuilder, it started operating one of the more powerful and versatile escort tugs in the Mediterranean region. Paraggi is a multipurpose escort tug built by Turkish shipyard Bogazici to a design by Cintranaval Ship Design. It comes with a hull specifically designed for stable escort duties and onboard equipment for multiple towing requirements. Finarge Armamento Genovese started operating the 32.5-m escort tug in May this year. Paraggi is an azimuthing stern drive (ASD) tug built to a CND-15231 design for escort duties and harbour operations.
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
Finarge Armamento Genovese’s latest addition was designed by Cintranaval and built by Bogazici as a powerful and multipurpose escort tug
It has 70 tonnes of bollard pull and a top speed of 13 knots. This power comes from an engineroom furnished with Caterpillar engines and auxiliaries and propulsion supplied by Schottel. Paraggi, registered in Genoa, is classed by RINA as an escort and salvage tug with unrestricted navigation and fire-fighting capabilities to FiFi 1 class. Paraggi is equipped with a fore escort-towing winch and a towing winch and hook on the aft deck, allowing the tug to perform towing operations both ahead and astern, said a spokesman for the shipbuilder, Bogazici. Additionally, the vessel is equipped with a stern roller and towing pins and the free deck in the aft is reinforced for loads up to 5 t/m².
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NEWBUILD PROFILE | 13
Its fore deck is free of obstacles which is a benefit during escort and towing operations.
Design specialities
Paraggi was designed with a comparatively small draught of 4.3 m for access to shallow harbours. Cintranaval’s CND-15231 design was chosen for its hull lines and appendages that improve Paraggi’s escort performance without compromising its overall length or draught, said the Bogazici spokesman. This is important in maintaining good seakeeping during escort operations, when working with the fore winch and sailing ahead. Bogazici built this tug with a raised forecastle deck that minimises water on deck, while the wheelhouse was conceived with good visibility all around the tug and good ergonomics for the master. It has accommodation for up to 10 people. In the engineroom, two Caterpillar 3516C type main engines each deliverS 2,100 kW of
power at 1,600 rpm. There are two Caterpillar C7.1 generator sets that each generateS 150 kW of electrical power at 1,500 rpm and 50 Hz, plus there is a smaller harbour genset. Paraggi's ASD capabilities come from two Schottel SRP 1515 controllable pitch and azimuthing propellers, with a 160 kW electricdriven bow thruster for extra manoeuvrability. It has a strong fender system, supplied by Yantai Taihong Rubber, which protects the vessel’s hull.
PARAGGI PARTICULARS Owner: Finarge Armamento Genovese Builder: Bogazici Delivery: May 2018 Designer: Cintranaval Ship Design Type: Multipurpose ASD escort tug Class: RINA
Deck and FiFi
Design: CND-15231
Its deck machinery includes a Kraaijeveld 70-tonne single split-drum escort towing winch on the fore deck. It also has a Kraaijeveld 45-tonne double-drum towing winch on the aft, plus towing pins, reel winder and stern roller of 130 tonnes. Paraggi has a fully hydraulic and foldable knuckle boom crane, supplied by Palfinger Marine. This PK18500MC crane has four sections with a boom extension of up to 12.4 m and lift ›››
Length, oa: 32.5 m Breadth: 11.7 m Draught: 4.3 m Bollard pull: 70 tonnes Maximum speed: 13 knots Main engines: 2 x Cat 3516C Propulsion: 2 x Schottel SRP 1515 CP Gensets: 2 x C7.1 Accommodation: 10 crew
BRIDGE DECK FORE VIEW
AFT VIEW
BOAT DECK MAIN DECK
FORE PLATFORM
14 | NEWBUILD PROFILE
PARAGGI TANK STORAGE Paraggi was built with enhanced fluid storage capabilities for long periods of escort duties; this includes the following tank capacities (m3): Fuel: 239.3 Recovered oil: 3.7 Fresh water: 25.8 Lube oil: 2.5 Sludge/dirty oil: 3.6 Foam: 22.3 Bilge water: 5.1 Sewage: 5.0 Ballast water: 70.3 Sea water (box coolers): 19.0 Hydraulic oil: 2.5
PARAGGI MAIN SUPPLIERS Main engines: Caterpillar
Paraggi is an ASD tug built to a CND-15231 design for escort duties and harbour operations
Gensets: Caterpillar Thrusters: Schottel
››› capacity of 1.1 tonnes.
Fire-fighting capabilities are to FiFi 1 class, supplied by Fire Fighting Systems with two FFS1200 remotely operated water monitors and deflector. These can rotate 360˚ and elevate between -20˚ and 80˚ and have a throw length of more than 120 m and height of 50 m. This FiFi 1 system has its own water spray system with two pumps of 1,350 m3/h capacity at 1,820 rpm, with transmission and a remotely operated hydraulic clutch. This SFP XP pump has a stainless steel shaft and is driven by power take-off from the main engines.
Wheelhouse systems
Paraggi’s wheelhouse equipment was mostly supplied by Sperry Marine, Saab and Cobham Satcom. It includes VisionMaster FT X-band radar, autopilot and gyrocompass from Sperry Marine. This subsidiary of Northrop Grumman also supplied a magnetic compass, Naviknot 350 E speed log, anemometer and ES 5100 echosounder. Saab delivered an automatic identification system R5 Supreme AIS and global positioning system. McMurdo supplied a Navtex and search and rescue transponders, while Lilley & Gillie delivered a SOLAS signalling lamp and Martek supplied the Navgard bridge navigation watch alarm.
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
Cobham Satcom was responsible for the communications equipment including the radio devices for the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System, the Sailor 6222 antenna, Sailor 6310 medium and high frequency radio telephone, Inmarsat Mini-C and SP 3520 handheld VHF radio. It also supplied the Sailor 150 FleetBroadband satellite communications set. Zenitel provided an onboard telephone system with accessories and talkback function. Paraggi completed its first towage project on 26 July this year as it manoeuvred a ship from Tulcea, Romania, to the Italian port of Genova. During this 14-day tow, Paraggi passed through the Bosphorus, Dardannelles and Messina straits. This type of towage would have previously been conducted by tug Germania.
Fore escort towing winch: Kraaijeveld Aft deck machinery: Kraaijeveld Deck crane: Palfinger FiFi: Fire Fighting Systems Fenders: Yantai Taihong Rubber Bridge systems: Sperry Marine GPS/AIS: Saab and McMurdo Communications/GMDSS: Cobham Satcom Onboard communications: Zenitel Bridge alarms: Martek
Operator acquisition
Rimorchiatori Riuniti subsidiary, Rimorchiatori Mediterranei, has acquired a company that was part of Capieci Spa that held concessions for towing service in the ports of Milazzo and Messina. This consolidates its leadership in the port towing sector in Italy and the Mediterranean and, in particular in Sicily, where it is already present through its subsidiary Rimorchiatori Augusta. TTB
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NEWBUILD PROFILE | 17
McAllister Towing’s latest tug new delivery meets both US Environmental Protection Agency’s Tier 4 and IMO Tier III requirements for emissions
Rosemary McAllister achieved a bollard pull of 82.5 tonnes during sea trials
Rosemary McAllister sets the Tier 4 bar
M
cAllister Towing expanded its fleet with a powerful escort tractor tug that exceeds the latest and most stringent North American and international environmental regulations. It added Rosemary McAllister to its fleet of tugs providing escort and manoeuvring services on the US east coast in May 2018. This is the second of a series of four environmental tractor tugs that surpass the tough US Environmental Protection Agency’s Tier 4 and IMO Tier III emission regulations. These tugs were ordered from Horizon Shipbuilding in 2016 with requirements to lower emissions of sulphur and nitrogen oxides and particulates. The first of these tugs, Capt Brian A McAllister, was built by Horizon at its facility in Bayou La Batre in Alabama and delivered in 2017. Rosemary McAllister was completed and delivered to McAllister Towing at the end of May as a sister tug. Two more are on order for delivery in Q4 2018 and into 2019. Rosemary McAllister started operations in June supporting McAllister Towing’s operations in Virginia, where the new generation of ultralarge container ships have been delivering cargo to expanded ports. This 30.5-m tug has a bollard pull of more than 80 tonnes. McAllister vice president and general manager Elliott Westall said Rosemary McAllister had already made a huge difference to towage capabilities in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. “We have seen a major increase in the
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arrival of ultra-large container vessels, and this tug, with its power, is able to expertly handle the largest vessels in the market today,” he said. It is not just its power that influences container ship handling though. “With its tethered escort abilities, Rosemary McAllister is a real gamechanger,” said Capt Westall. “Bring on the 450-m container ships, McAllister and our team are ready!” Rosemary McAllister is classed by ABS as an escort, ship-docking and rescue tug with fire-fighting FiFi1 capabilities. During sea trials it achieved a bollard pull of 82.5 tonnes through using a pair of 3516E Tier 4 Caterpillar engines, which combined generate 5,050 kW of power and drive two Schottel SRP 4000 fixed Rudderpropeller units. Each 3516E engine is paired with a selective catalytic reduction after-treatment system for removing NOx. Also in the engineroom there are CAT C7.1 Tier 3 gensets rated at 118 kW and two CAT C18 Tier 3 fire pump engines. Beier Integrated Systems supplied the switchgear for this series of McAllister tugs. They were custom-built consoles to meet McAllister’s requirements. On the deck Rosemary McAllister has a Markey class III escort winch on the bow and a Markey 57 mm wire towing winch on the stern. Rosemary McAllister expands McAllister’s tug fleet to 32 vessels. It is named after the matriarch of the company, Rosemary, the wife of chairman Brian McAllister, and mother of president Buckley McAllister and chief financial officer Eric McAllister. TTB
ROSEMARY MCALLISTER PARTICULARS Type: Escort tractor tug Owner: McAllister Towing Builder: Horizon Shipbuilding Class: ABS Operations: Virginia, US Environmental: EPA Tier 4/ IMO Tier III Length: 30.5 m Breadth: 12.2 m Bollard pull: 82.5 tonnes Main engines: 2 x Cat 3516E Tier IV Propulsion: 2 x Schottel SRP 4000FP Gensets: 2 x CAT C7.1 Tier 3 Deck machinery: Markey class III escort winch (bow) and wire towing winch (stern)
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard cut steel in this ceremony on a RAstar 3800-DF LNG-fuelled tug in June
Delivery round-up: Jiangsu Zhenjiang is on a roll J
iangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard has started construction of a dual-fuel port tug for Ningbo Zhoushan Port Co. The Chinese tug builder is building a Robert Allan RAstar 3800-DF design tug for completion in 2019. It will be the fifth LNG-fuelled tug built in China, but the first dual-fuel azimuthing stern drive (ASD) model. It demonstrates the investment owners and port authorities are making in gas-fuelled tugs as China opens new LNG import terminals. This tug will be powered by a pair of Niigata 8L28AHX dual-fuel engines, with each driving a Rolls-Royce US 255 controllable pitch Z-drive. During operations, gas will replace up to 90% of the fuel, reducing emissions of SOx up to 50% and NOx up to 80%. It will also lower particulate matter by 98% and CO2 by 22%, according to the shipyard. When this tugboat is delivered, it will have a bollard pull of around 80 tonnes and LNG storage capacity of 55 m3, which gives it a range of more than 700 nautical miles in LNG mode, and nearly 1,700 nautical miles in diesel mode. In July, Jiangsu Zhenjiang delivered a tug and launched the hull of another for outfitting. It delivered Fu Gang Tuo 1 to Fuzhou Port on 28 July. This is an ASD
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
tug, designed by Jiangsu Zhenjiang with 4,420 kW of power. On 2 July, the shipyard launched another ASD tug for a domestic shipowner with a total power of 3,240 kW, which is more powerful than an ASD tugboat Jiangsu Zhenjiang launched on 20 June, with 2,940 kW. On 14 June, Jiangsu Zhenjiang delivered another ASD tug to the Qingdao Port operator. Qing Gang Tuo 2 was designed by the shipyard with total power of 5,120 kW. This followed a busy May, where the shipyard delivered Da Gun Lun 1, a 3,824-kW ASD tug, to Tianjin Lingang Shipping Co. It also launched a 4,420-kW ASD tug and a 3,676-kW unit, Gangxing Tuo 234 for Zhoushan Gangxing Towboat Co.
Other delivery highlights
• Italian shipbuilder Vittoria Shipyard delivered a harbour tug to the port authority of Skikda in Algeria. This €7M (US$8M) vessel, Cap de Fer, is a 26-m azimuthing stern drive tug with a bollard pull of more than 40 tonnes and a top speed of 12 knots. It has a width of 10 m, draught of 3.8 m and displacement of almost 500 tonnes. Cap de Fer is
classified by Bureau Veritas and has two diesel engines that can develop 2,460 kW of power. • Damen Shipyards built a hybrid ASD multipurpose tug for operation in the Caribbean. Redwise Maritime Services transported Fregate from the Netherlands to French Guiana in June for dredging and harbour operations in Cayenne and Kourou. It is a WID 2915 design vessel with diesel engines and electric motors that drive Veth thrusters, pumps, air compressors and winches. • Navigation Maritime Bulgare (Navibulgar) took delivery of a second RAmparts 2700 design tug from MTG-Dolphin. This Bureau Veritas-classed, 27.6-m tug has a draught of 3.95 m and bollard pull of 40 tonnes. It is driven by two Caterpillar engines and two rotating Azipod drives. • C&C Marine and Repair delivered towboat Chris Reeves to Marquette Transportation for operations in North America. This was designed by CT Marine with a triple azimuthing Steerprop Z-drive configuration and three Cummins main engines. • Sanmar supplied Dogancay XXVI tug to P&O Maritime for operations in Somalia. This twin-screw tug was renamed Egal and has 43 tonnes of bollard pull. TTB
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CONTRACTS & COMPLETIONS | 19
TUGS DELIVERED Q2 2018 Tug name
Owner
Type
Builder
Operating Country
Bollard pull (tonnes)
Ningbo Zhoushan Port
harbour
Jiangsu Zhenjiang
China
Jisco-TBR
terminal
Jiangsu Zhenjiang
Brunei
Blue Water Shipping
seagoing
De Hoop
Kazakhstan
42
APRIL Zhougangtuo 32 Not known Karasay Batyr Svitzer Vale
Svitzer
harbour
Sanmar
Baltic
70
Med XXVI
Med Marine
harbour
Med Marine
Turkey
50
Ereggli 52
Arpas Pilotage
harbour
Med Marine
Turkey
73
Damen
harbour
Damen
Europe
75
De-Kastri
AAS Amur Assets
pusher
Damen
Russia
13.5
Nikolaevsk
AAS Amur Assets
pusher
Damen
Russia
13.5
Komsomolsk
AAS Amur Assets
pusher
Damen
Russia
13.5
Khabarovsk
AAS Amur Assets
pusher
Damen
Russia
13.5
Rimorchiatori
escort
Bogazici
Italy
70
Waterfront Services
inland towage
Master Marine
US
Targe
harbour
Sanmar
UK
60
Keppel Smit
harbour
Keppel Singmarine
Singapore
65
Sanmar
harbour
Sanmar
Turkey
21
SMS Towage
harbour
Sanmar
UK
45
McAllister Towing
escort
Horizon
US
83
Innovation (RSD)
Paraggi Sam P Hise Kittiwake MAY KST Liberty Gokay Pullman Rosemary McAllister Svitzer Glenrock
Svitzer
escort
Damen Song Cam
Australia
Tianjin linGang Shipping
harbour
Jiangsu Zhenjiang
China
Chris Reeves
Marquette Transportation Co
harbour
C&C Marine
US
3 x Stan Tugs
Corpetrolsa
harbour
Damen
Ecuador
Craigleith
Forth Ports
terminal
Sanmar
UK
70
Blue Water Shipping
seagoing
De Hoop
Kazakhstan
42
Blue Water Shipping
seagoing
De Hoop
Kazakhstan
42
Da Gun Lun 1
BogenBay Batyr JUNE Raiymbek Batyr Med XXVII
Med Marine
harbour
Med Marine
Turkey
50
Cap de Fer
Skikda Port
terminal
Vittoria
Algeria
40
SL Lula
Bahwan Lamnalco
terminal
Damen
Oman
SL Murjan
Bahwan Lamnalco
terminal
Damen
Oman
2 x Island new ATBs
Island Tug & Barge
seagoing ATB
in Canada
Canada
Ocean
harbour
Sanmar
Jamaica
80
Med Marine
harbour
Med Marine
Turkey
50
Qingdao Port
escort
Jiangsu Zhenjiang
China
Ocean Kingston Pride Med XXVIII Qing Gang Tuo 2 TOTAL DELIVERIES
36
Source: Tug Technology & Business
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Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
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OPERATOR PROFILE | 21
Spanopoulos invests to expand tugboat fleet Spanopoulos provides harbour support, escort duties, salvage and oceangoing towage services with a fleet of tugs it has purchased and built itself
President and managing director Ignatios Spanopoulos (left) with vice president Mike Spanopoulos
G
“We have almost doubled the fleet in just four years”
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reek towage, salvage and shipbuilding group Spanopoulos has expanded its fleet through multiple tugboat acquisitions completed this year. These are in addition to the tugs it has built for its fleet at a shipyard in Ambelakia, on Salamis Island, and those it has purchased in the last 10 years. These acquisitions and newbuildings have boosted Spanopoulos’ fleet to 56 tugs, which operate in the Mediterranean, northern Europe, Baltic Sea and West Africa. Despite the geographic diversity, Spanopoulos’ main focus of operations is in Greece. Spanopoulos expanded its fleet capabilities this year through acquisitions. Towage, salvage and chartering specialist Chryssis Symeonides, speaking exclusively to Tug Technology & Business, said Spanopoulos acquired four tugs, originally built in the 1990s with Voith propulsion from the eastern Mediterranean market during Q2 2018. After their purchase in April this year, they were upgraded in Spanopoulos’ shipyard on Salamis Island, Greece. “One tug was delivered in
May and three more were delivered in June,” Mr Symeonides explained at the Posidonia exhibition in Athens, Greece, in June. “We have refurbished them and will put them to work.” Spanopoulos is also building a new tugboat, with total power of 4,475 kW at the Salamis Shipyard. This year’s expansion is part of a long-term strategy for the group. “We have almost doubled the fleet in just four years,” said Mr Symeonides. “We usually purchase between three and five tugs every year and we can build tugboats in Salamis Shipyard.” He said four tugboats with bollard pulls of around 60 tonnes will be built at the shipyard for the group’s own requirements. The shipyard built six tugs in 2017. Spanopoulos’ tug fleet provides ship assistance in harbours to berth and unberth vessels and to provide mooring assistance and escort duties. Its tugs are mainly operated out of Perama near Piraeus, where the group has a yacht construction yard. It also has tug stations on Greek islands including Crete, Corfu, Mykonos and Rhodes and operations in Piraeus and Thessalonica. “We
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
22 | OPERATOR PROFILE
Chryssis Symeonides: “Tugs are able to handle large container ships in ports”
also assist the Greek Navy on an exclusive basis,” said Mr Symeonides. It provides escort services throughout the Mediterranean, in the Adriatic Sea, across the Aegean Sea and in the Black Sea and Red Sea. “Our Mediterranean harbour tugs service tankers, LNG carriers and container ships,” he explained. Spanopoulos works for most major Greek-owned shipping companies “providing a berth-to-berth service.” Spanopoulos also provides oceangoing towage across the Indian Ocean and project towage using a fleet of anchor handlers that includes three with dynamic positioning and 100 tonnes of bollard pull. “We have up to six anchor handlers currently on towage projects from the Black Sea to northern Europe, West Africa to Turkey and Black Sea to Singapore,” said Mr Symeonides. These tugs can tow individually, or as part of a team, all types of heavy equipment including drilling rigs, oil production platforms and barges, transport barges, tankers and other large floating objects over long distances. Spanopoulos has provided salvage operations, mostly in Greece, since purchasing its first floating crane, Ta Dyo Aderfia, in 1980. It has since been involved in emergency response to casualties, from collisions, groundings or breakdowns, to firefighting and oil spillage clean up.
Salvage operations
“We have been involved in some of the largest salvage projects in Greece,” said Mr Symeonides. This included tackling oil pollution and wreck removal of sunken tanker Agia Zoni II in September 2017, using a floating ringer crane with 1,300 tonnes lifting capacity and a fleet of salvage tugs and antipollution vessels. “Up to 15 vessels were involved in that salvage project,” he explained. The shipwreck of the 45-year-old, 3,200dwt product tanker was safely removed on
“With the removal of this harmful polluter, we managed to mitigate the risk of more adverse impact on the environment”
29 November, three months after it sank. At the time, project co-ordinator and salvage group owner Mike Spanopoulos described the wreck removal as “a demanding battle” which was “successfully fought” while reducing the consequences of the oil spill in the sea and in coastal areas. “With the removal of this harmful polluter, we managed to mitigate the risk of more adverse impact on the environment.” On 17 May 2018, Spanopoulos’s salvage team was asked by P&I principals to offer assistance and technical expertise on a bunkers- and cargocontamination incident that occurred on board Papayiannis. Spanopoulos was then awarded an amended WreckStage 2010 contract to empty the vessel’s cargo hold No 2, which was loaded with about 11,000 tonnes of steel billets. About 700 tonnes of them were contaminated with heavy fuel oil, which had also contaminated the hold, side shells and bilge oil pumping system. Spanopoulos dispatched semi-submersible barge Atlantis I, which has a 10,000-tonnes loading capacity, plus various flat-top barges, tugboats, antipollution vessels and gear and a team of 50 experts. During the contracted period of 12 working days under 24-hour operations, the following tasks were completed resulting in the best outcome for the vessel and its interests including
SPANOPOULOS TIMELINE 1962
1977
1979
1980
1987
1999
2006
First vessel,
Constructs
Starts
Constructs
Acquires
Reconstructs
Establishes
Vosporos, active in Piraeus.
first newbuild tug, Christos.
chartering tugs for harbour work.
first floating crane, Ta Dyo Aderfia.
Dimitrios G for oil exploration in Ionian Sea.
Piraeus passenger terminal.
new shipyard in Salamis Island.
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
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OPERATOR PROFILE | 23
the P&I club, charterers and principals: • Discharging 11,000 tonnes of steel billets from cargo hold No 2 by crane. • Cleaning the contaminated cargo. • Complete cleaning of the cargo hold. • Complete cleaning of the oil bilge pumping system. • Reloading the cargo back to cargo hold No 2. • Stevedoring and securing the cargo including complete renewal of dunnage inside the hold. • Collecting and disposing of oily residue from the complete operation in a safe, professional and environmentally sensitive manner. Spanopoulos was also involved in removing the wreck of cargo vessel Gerasimos from the Platygiali terminal at Astakos Port. Spanopoulos used semi-submersible barge Atlantis I, equipped with four chain pullers of 78-mm chains with a total pulling capacity of 1,800 tonnes for this project. It also used floating crane, Ignatios X, which has 120 tonnes of lifting capacity, and anchor handling tug Christos XXII with 67 tonnes of bollard pull. The wreck was contained and sealed with multiple layers of oil containment and oilabsorbing booms. Atlantis I was positioned at the front starboard side of the wreck stern, perpendicular to the wreck’s position. This barge was ballasted and submerged until it safely touched the bottom. The wreck was moved towards the submerged barge by a floating crane. Then Atlantis I was deballasted until the wreck safely touched the barge’s deck and was lifted up to the sea surface. Atlantis I was further deballasted to properly trim and secure the wreck for the towing operation before the wreck was safely removed and transferred to Spanopoulos’ Salamis Shipyard for inspection before a demolition yard was agreed. In December 2017, Spanopoulos refloated and removed grounded passenger ship Makedonia in
2009
Limnionas Bay, Salamis, using tugboats Christos XXII and Christos XXXVII. The ferry was then towed to the Salamis Shipyard on 18 December.
Company brief
Spanopoulos was founded 50 years ago as a family-owned and operated maritime group with experience in implementing a wide number of challenging projects in the marine and offshore field. It is led by president and managing director Ignatios Spanopoulos and group vice president Mike Spanopoulos. Spanopoulos employs more than 700 people at its shipyards in Salamis, Perama and on its tug and barge fleet. “Each tug has a permanent crew on board so they are ready for operations,” said Mr Symeonides. “We do our own training at our main offices and have seminars to update crew and managers with the latest regulations and safety requirements.” Spanopoulos is a leading contractor in the marine construction field throughout the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Red Sea. Over the last 50 years it has undertaken more than 400 projects in Greece and abroad, such as: harbour and marina construction, breakwaters and coastal protection, caissons and concrete installations, pile driving, offshore foundation works and geotechnical investigations. It is also involved in underwater pipeline and cable laying, and repair and dredging. As mentioned, it also operates a shipbuilding and repair yard in Ambelakia on Salamis Island and a yacht construction and repair yard in Perama, Piraeus. The company is expanding its construction activities by building a shipyard in Elefsis. This will cover 82,000 m2 and have floating docks. This facility will be able to construct and repair vessels of up to 120 m. TTB
2012
2014
Starts ocean
Constructs
Opens yacht
towage services with three tugs, 100-tonnes bollard pull.
self-propelled crane barge Ignatios III.
yard in Perama.
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2016
SPANOPOULOS OPERATIONS • Marine Construction – harbour, marina, coastal protection, offshore foundations, pipelay, pipe repair. • Dredging. • Towage – harbour tugs, anchor handlers. • Salvage, wreck removal and emergency response – salvage tugs, self-propelled floating cranes, and assistance vessels. • Underwater services – diving, hull repair, marine construction. • Commercial shipbuilding and repair – Salamis Island yard, Perama yard and Elefsis yard (under construction).
SPANOPOULOS FLEET • Operates more than 120 various types of vessels, which include: • Ocean and harbour tugs. • Crane barges. • Split hopper barges. • Flat-top barges. • Self-elevating crane barges. • Semi-submersible barges. • Floating docks. • Backhoe dredgers. • Floating drilling barges. • Various utility vessels and tenders. • Cargo and passenger launch boats. • Vessels for garbage collection. • Vessels for sewage collection. • Sewage carrying tankers. • Dry cargo vessels.
2017
2018
2020
Constructs
Constructs
Expands of
Will open new
two Christos tugs, 45-tonnes bollard pull.
six new tugs, acquired self-elevating barge, 1,300 tonnes lift capacity.
shipyard, Salamis Island.
shipyard at Elefsis.
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
Images for illustrative purpose only.
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OPERATOR PROFILE | 25
Megatugs bolsters fleet through acquisitions Greek tugboat owner is modernising its fleet by purchasing secondhand harbour towage and salvage tugs
M
egatugs Salvage & Towage has renewed its fleet of Mediterranean harbour and salvage tugs through acquiring vessels on the secondhand market. The latest addition was in May this year as a sister tug of two vessels added at the end of 2016. Megatugs introduced Platytera to its operations in May, boosting its fleet to nine tugs, Megatugs logistics and IT manager Nikolaos Kokorakis told Tug Technology & Business at the Posidonia exhibition in Athens, Greece, in June.
Ionion Pelagos with 98 tonnes of bollard pull is Megatugs’ most powerful salvage tug (credit: Megatugs)
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Platytera is an anchor handling salvage tug built in 2007 and has a bollard pull of 51 tonnes. This 40-m tug is kitted out for harbour towage and oil recovery with 350 m of boom and storage capacity for collected oil, Mr Kokorakis said. It is a sister vessel to two tugs, Pantokrator, built in 2006 and 2005-built Pantanassa. They were both added to the Megatugs fleet in Q4 2016. Megatugs also added its first azimuthing stern drive tug to the fleet in 2017. Megalochari VII was built in
2006 and has a bollard pull of 68 tonnes. This means five of Megatugs’ fleet are less than 13 years old and two more were built after 1997. “We are in the process of modernising the fleet by replacing some of our older ones,” said Mr Kokorakis. “We sell the old stock and then mostly use the sales and purchase market and go through agents” to source replacement candidates. The oldest tug in the current fleet is 1964-built harbour tug Panormitis, which has 44 tonnes of bollard pull. The next-
“We are in the process of modernising the fleet by replacing some of our older ones”
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
26 | OPERATOR PROFILE
oldest is salvage tug Ionion Pelagos, which was built in 1977 and has 98 tonnes of bollard pull. Megatugs operates the fleet of tugboats from stations in Piraeus and Thessaloniki ports, in Greece. From there it can operate in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and Red Sea. Its operations office is manned 24/7, 365 days a year, ensuring reliable, effective and efficient port operations, said Mr Kokorakis. It provides harbour and ocean towage and escorting services with this nine-vessel fleet. Over the last 12 months, Megatugs has successfully carried out ocean towage of jack-up barges, pipe and cable-laying barges, transport barges, dipper dredgers, floating docks, very large crude carriers, military vessels and concrete caissons. Megatugs also carries out salvage operations, fire-fighting, underwater inspections, ship repairs and pollution control. For this it has a tanker vessel, diving and antipollution equipment. This year it also added another asset. “We are in the process of retrofitting our first barge to make it suitable for use with a crane,” said Mr Kokorakis. “It will be used for port work, salvage and dredging.” Megatugs has provided tug support to key salvage projects in Greece in 2017 and 2018. It assisted Smit Salvage in removing the wreck of cargo ship Cabrera, which sank off the Greek island of Andros in December 2016. Tugs assisted Boskalis’s floating sheerleg crane Taklift 4 to lift the wreck. During Q2 2018, Megatugs helped with the removal of the wreck of general cargo ship, Little Seyma, from the eastern tip of Mykonos Island. A sheerleg crane was used to pull up the wreck in pieces over several weeks in May and June.
MEGATUGS FLEET Tug
type
build year
bollard pull
salvage tug
1977
98 tonnes
Megalochari VII
ASD tug
2006
68 tonnes
Megalochari VIII
harbour tug
1998
38 tonnes
Megalochari XII
salvage tug
2001
48 tonnes
Megalochari XIV
harbour tug
1998
38 tonnes
Panormitis
harbour tug
1964
44 tonnes
Pantanassa
anchor handling salvage
2005
52 tonnes
Pantokrator
anchor handling salvage
2006
53 tonnes
Platytera
anchor handling salvage
2007
51 tonnes
Ionion Pelagos
MEGATUGS ACTIVITIES
Megatugs implements digital transformation
Harbour towage
Megatugs Salvage & Towage is deploying digital technology across its fleet operations to improve management and data analytics by investing in fleet management and vessel monitoring software, said Megatugs logistics and IT manager Nikolaos Kokorakis. “We are implementing technology as we need more digital processes,” he said. “We need more data gathering and software for analysing it.” Megatugs was reviewing software options in June, to help it monitor and manage the nine-tug fleet, which has a bollard pull range of 38-98 tonnes.
Ocean towage
Offshore support
Salvage operations
Wreck removal
Pollution control
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
Diving
Smit partners with Megatugs for Mediterranean salvage Smit Salvage, a Boskalis subsidiary, was assisted by Megatugs Salvage & Towage in the salvage of the wreck of cargo ship Cabrera in December 2016. This vessel sank off the Greek island of Andros and required the services of a heavy-lift crane barge to remove it, said Smit Salvage managing director Richard Janssen. “We brought in floating sheerleg crane Taklift 4 from the Middle East to salvage Cabrera,” he said. Prior to that, Smit Salvage and Megatugs removed the oil and cargo from the sunken vessel. After the Cabrera salvage, Taklift 4 was mobilised to west Afica to recover an offshore single buoy mooring, then to Denmark for offshore lifting projects, said Mr Janssen.
The 83-m floating crane was built in 1981 with main tackles and jib tackles that can operate together. Taklift 4 has a lifting capacity of 1,400 tonnes with the top crane and 2,200 tonnes from the lower tackle. When Smit Salvage is contracted for projects, it needs tugs to support its operations. “We work with a number of partners in the Mediterranean,” said Mr Janssen. “We sometimes need anchor handling tugs and specialist lift units.” In other parts of Europe, Smit Salvage can use tugs owned by Smit's joint ventures such as Kotug Smit Towage. “We have been involved in a lot of salvage projects in Europe where we work with our joint venture partners,” said Mr Janssen. TTB
www.tugtechnologyandbusiness.com
28 | SPECIAL FOCUS middle east
GAC overcomes Middle East towage challenges GAC has built up a fleet of tugs, anchor handlers and barges in the Middle East while tackling the challenges of marine support services in the region
G
AC operates a multitude of tugs, barges, service vessels and workboats in most countries in the Middle East. As with many operators in the region, its fleet supports a mixture of marine construction and offshore projects and has a varied range of performance and power. It added two vessels from the secondhand Asian market to the fleet this quarter to bolster its operations and has overcome technical challenges that are particular, although not unique, to the Middle East. GAC had to overcome issues relating to barge towage and minimising hull growth on vessels operating in the Middle East, GAC vice president for marine operations Erland Ebbersten told Tug Technology & Business. These include dealing with excessive marine growth on tugboat hulls and reviewing documentation and the condition of barges to minimise the risk of marine accidents. “We have to be careful about the condition of other companies’ barges,” Mr Ebbersten said. “We need to ensure the condition is good and that barges are not overloaded.” In this way GAC can prevent stability issues from occurring, he said. When GAC tugs are manoeuvring barges in bad weather in the Middle East Gulf and Red Sea, it becomes problematic if assets are not structurally sound. “Barges in poor condition could break up and risk pulling tugs over,” Mr Ebbersten said.
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
“There have been incidents with large rock barges being corroded and breaking apart,” he explained. GAC has encountered rusted manholes on deck, which has led to water leaking into tanks “resulting in the loss of stability”, said Mr Ebbersten. To mitigate these potential incidents GAC reviews class papers of the barges to check they are in order. “Our masters will look at general conditions, but we do not do full inspections. This is done by the warranty surveyor,” Mr Ebbersten said. He added that there was a lot of rock
Erland Ebbersten: “There have been incidents with large rock barges being corroded and breaking apart”
“We need to ensure the condition is good and that barges are not overloaded”
barge towage, especially in the UAE for construction projects. Barges can also carry project cargo and other heavy items. These need to be ballasted, and as a result, GAC does its own ballast calculations. Another technical challenge with operating in the Middle East is the extent of marine growth. “We feel that marine growth in the Middle East is so strong that we want to clean the hull and sea chest every 2.5 years,” said Mr Ebbersten. “In other locations with less underwater growth we could get away with substituting a mid-term docking with an underwater survey.” GAC inspects and repair tugs every 2.5 years in its own drydock facility, which it needed when it started operating in the Middle East in 1974. “Back then, there were no shipyards, so we had to have our own maintenance facility with a drydock in Abu Dhabi,” he said. GAC uses this for repairs and for building vessels for its own fleet. It is currently building an anchor-handling tug, which
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middle east SPECIAL FOCUS | 29
GAC plans to deploy offshore Africa when completed. There are currently no plans to build new tugs because tug utilisation and competition in the Middle East means GAC is not ready to expand its fleet. However, many of GAC’s clients have a 20-year limit on the age of tugs. “We constantly need to rejuvenate the tug fleet,” Mr Ebbersten said. “The cost of building a new tug is substantial and there are a lot of opportunities to acquire [secondhand] vessels.” These tugs can have conventional controlled pitch propellers and do not need to have azimuthing stern drive designs “as these need more extensive maintenance,” he explained. “Our range of requirements for rejuvenating tugs is 50-100 tonnes bollard pull, with restricted draughts as there are places we work with less than 5 m water depth limits.”
GAC is also affected by political tensions in the Middle East. Its operations in Qatar have decreased due to the political fallout between that nation and others in the region. “To operate in Qatar we have to clear everything through Oman,” Mr Ebbersten said. “For example, McDermott wanted to use an anchor-handling tug in Qatar, but no vessels constructed in [the] UAE are able to operate in Qatar.” This has meant GAC had to source vessels that are not constructed in the UAE. At least the training and recruitment of crew and onshore support staff is not an issue for GAC. It is able to source people from local markets, Mr Ebbersten explained. “All seafarers need to be approved for various national authorities and have medical certificates and permits,” he said. “We can provide them with onboard training from our senior captains.”
GAC’s Susanna is a 2004-built anchor handler with 110 tonnes of bollard pull
GAC MIDDLE EAST FLEET Tugs >2,900 kW:
3
Tugs 750-2,900 kW:
3
Tugs: <750 kW:
2
Crew boats:
7
Anchor handlers:
5
AHTS:
2
Barges >6,000 dwt:
4
Barges <6,000 dwt:
4
Landing craft:
1
GAC MIDDLE EAST TUG FLEET Name
length (m)
year built
BP (tonnes)
Anchor handling tugs Kristiina
48
2008
110
Agneta
48
2007
110
49.5
2004
110
45
2001
80
42.5
1999
80
Susanna Mimmi Ann Sofie Tugs Dimitra 1
40
2010
50
Matilda
40
2010
50
Ulrika
40
2009
50
Blenda
30.5
2003
40
Linda 1
27
1997
32
Lisa
25
1976
21
Eva
23
1976
13
Vicky
18
1976
10
GAC Middle East fleet operations Countries where GAC operates include the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. Its fleet includes eight tugs, eight barges, seven crew boats, five anchor handling tugs and two anchor handling tug and supply vessels operating in the Middle East. GAC vice president for marine operations Erland Ebbersten explained that this fleet now includes two anchor handling tugs purchased from Singapore, 2008-built Kristiina (ex-Lewek Kestrel) and 2007-built Agneta (ex-Lewek Kea). “We use our fleet in the construction
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of offshore islands and other marine infrastructure, such as jetties, quaysides and breakwaters,” he said. “In [the] UAE, we use barges for supplying cementcoated pipes, offshore facility topsides, material for civil construction and for building piers and jetties.” GAC has bid its tugs and barges to support the construction of 13 artificial islands providing piling and material loaded on to barges. Its tugs are also involved in port berthing, supporting dredging operations and assisting ships in coastal and inland waterways. Its tugs have a power range from
560 kW to 5,960 kW and its barges are between 1,200 dwt and 8,000 dwt. GAC is also engaged in supplying ships off Fujairah, UAE with materials and seafarers. GAC also operates in the Caspian with bases in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. However, these are more focused on supporting upstream oil and gas operations. GAC operates anchor handling tug supply vessels for rig moves and for supporting offshore drilling and production, including supplying cement, barite, liquid mud, casing and drill pipe. GAC also operates a fleet of crew boats in Sri Lanka and workboats in Scotland. TTB
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
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middle east SPECIAL FOCUS | 31
Middle East tug owners embrace fleet modernisation Middle East tug fleets are dominated by contract hire and vessels built outside the region, but things are changing as demand for newbuildings is increasing, writes Barry Luthwaite
T
here is plenty of towage work on offer serving Middle East ports with the Middle East embracing a modernisation programme aimed at increased trade. Against this background several port authorities have ordered new tugs to handle bigger ships focused on oil and container ship traffic. Middle East fleets are growing at an impressive rate, but shipbuilding in the region is still at a low level with some orders still awaiting buyers 2-3 years after speculative construction. Owners have preferred to charter in or order at overseas yards for reliable delivery times. Among the latest deliveries to Smit Lamnalco are two Damen ASD 3212 azimuth stern drive tugs SL Lulu and SL Murjan, operating at a fertiliser terminal in the port of Sur, Oman. These tugs were originally ordered at Meyer’s Panama Shipping in November 2015 to work on the Panama Canal, but were subcontracted to Song Cam, Vietnam, for completion. Two sister tugs are scheduled to be commissioned for Smit Lamnalco towards the end of this year from Song Cam to work for Rio Tinto in Weipa, Australia. A small number of tugs are earmarked for construction and operation in the Middle East. Since Damen took over Albwardy’s shipyard in Sharjah in 2016, it has added eight more tugs for its own account stretching employment into 2019 and is confident that owners will snap them up. Three of these are in the 70-80 tonnes bollard pull range. It is unclear whether all eight tugs will be completed in Sharjah or in Damen′s shipyards in the Netherlands. Contract hire will continue for the foreseeable future in the Middle East. Svitzer is heavily engaged and Smit Lamnalco handles some local requirements. A new shipyard under construction in Saudi Araba will require powerful tugs with negotiations underway to fulfil requirements. Smit Lamnalco clinched a 20-year contract to service a floating LNG import terminal offshore serving the National Oil & Gas Authority of Bahrain. Floating storage and regasification units are in demand with enquiries for one or two units which will require tug attendance. Smit Lamnalco will uses its existing fleet where possible, but newbuidings will be commissioned, which may mean more business for Damen Shipyards. There is a lack of home-grown tugs in Middle East fleets. Until someone demonstrates a will to break the dominance of contract hire this looks set to continue, which is good news for the international major tug fleets and continuing contract hire with purchase options. TTB
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SVITZER TUGS ON STATION MIDDLE EAST Name
bollard pull
Oman Svitzer Al Khabourah
67
Svitzer Beta
82
Svitzer Boxer
39
Svitzer Foxtrot
81
Svitzer Sahwa
39
Svitzer Sutor
39
Sohar Svitzer Hormuz
66
Svitzer Liwa 1
69
Svitzer Shinas
44
Svitzer Sohar
42
Bahrain Svitzer Karak
45
Svitzer Muharraq
43
Svitzer Pella
45
Dubai Svitzer Zara
70
Egypt Svitzer Delta
65
Svitzer Idku
65
Svitzer Elbeheira
65
Svitzer Rasheed
65
Source: BRL Shipping Consultants
SL Murjan was acquired by Smit Lamnalco for operations at a fertiliser terminal in the port of Sur, Oman
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
32 | SPECIAL FOCUS middle east
Saudi escort tug fleet expanded with four newbuilds
S
audi Arabia-based Star Marine has expanded its Red Sea fleet with four new escort tugs. These will be stationed in the port of Rabigh in Saudi Arabia and managed by Marine Services Co. Murjan 1, 2, 3, and 4 are RAstar 3400 design escort and offshore terminal support tugs, built by Triyards’ shipbuilding facility in Vietnam, on contract to Greenbay Marine Services. They were designed by Canada-based Robert Allan and classed by Bureau Veritas for unrestricted navigation. These are 34 m azimuthing stern drive tugs with sponsoned hullforms developed exclusively by Robert Allan. Designed using computerised fluid dynamics, the hullforms underwent model and full-scale testing. Robert Allan said the hullforms provide “significantly enhanced escort towing and seakeeping performance” due to the sponsons and prominent foil-shaped escort skeg forward elements. “This combination enhances escort forces and reduces roll motions and accelerations to less than half those of comparable sized standard wall-sided tug hulls,” said Robert Allan. Murjan 1 has a mounded beam of 13.5 m and moulded hull depth of 6.18 m to the bottom of the skeg with a maximum draught of 5.7 m. During sea trials this tug achieved a free running speed ahead of 14.1 knots, forward bollard pull of 73.8 tonnes and astern bollard pull of 71.5 tonnes. The other tugs have similar
Triyards has built four RAstar escort and offshore terminal tugs for Star Marine, to operate in the port of Rabigh in Saudi Arabia
MURJAN 1 PARTICULARS Owner: Manager: Operation area: Builder: Designer: Classification: Design: Length, oa: Beam, moulded: Maximum draught: Bollard pull: Free running speed: Main engines: Propulsion:
features and performance. Their main propulsion comprises a pair of Wärtsilä 8L26 diesel engines, each rated for 2,610 kW at 1,000 rpm. These drive Schottel SRP 1515 controllable pitch azimuth-drives. Onboard electricity is generated from two MAN diesel gensets, each with a power output of 300 ekW. Murjan tugs can receive power at 100 A from shore distribution and have a harbour generator with a power output of up to 140 ekW. They have fully automated switchboards in air-conditioned control
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
Star Marine Marine Services Co Red Sea Triyards SSY Robert Allan Bureau Veritas RAstar 3400 34 m 13.5 m 5.7 m 73.8 tonnes 14.1 knots 2 x Wä rtsilä 8L26 2 x Schottel SRP 1515 drives
rooms and hydraulic power units to drive deck machinery. Each tug has a pair of DMT winches – a double-drum ship-assist and escort synthetic hawser winch on the forward deck and a single-drum towing winch fitted with 850 m of steel wire rope, on the aft deck. Two of these tugs have a Palfinger knuckle-boom crane installed on the port side, with a lifting capacity of 10 tonnes at 4 m. The other two tugs have pedestals fitted ready for a crane installation of up to 49 tonnes. Tug fenders have been arranged for specific operations
at Red Sea terminals. Each tug is fitted with a streamlined 480 mm x 300 mm W fender for handling low freeboard coastal vessels and oil barges. Each tug also has a cylindrical fender on the bow, augmented by a W fender below. They have 300 mm x 300 mm hollow D fenders that provide protection at the water line and a W fender at the stern. Wheelhouses on the tugs were designed for all-round visibility with a forward control station. Accommodation was built for operations in Middle East environmental conditions. There is air conditioning and capacity for up to 10 crew with single cabins for the master and chief engineer, plus two more single cabins and three double cabins. The tugs were also built for tackling marine and port emergencies, with FiFi 1 fire-fighting systems with additional drenching and foam systems. They also have equipment for supporting an oil spill response, a SOLAS rigid-hull rescue boat and life rafts and a hydrogen sulphide gas detection system. They can store 180 m3 of fuel oil, 70 m3 of potable water, 20 m3 of foam and 20 m3 of dispersant. The port of Rabigh mainly deals with crude and oil products, including liquids and polymers. There is an oil terminal with a quayside depth of 23 m linked to a refinery and petrochemical plant. There is also a cargo quay for container shipments with an anchorage depth range of 11 m to 12.2 m. TTB
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middle east SPECIAL FOCUS | 33
OUTBOARD PROFILE
MAIN DECK
ACCOM. LEVEL
HOLD PLAN
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Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
34 | SPECIAL FOCUS middle east
Tugs ordered for two Middle East projects International Maritime Industries talks about providing tugs for its new shipyard in Saudi Arabia and Smit Lamnalco gains a multitug contract in Bahrain
Shipyards in Saudi Arabia need tugs to manoeuvre ships into and out of docks
A
s a consortium of companies and organisations construct a new shipyard in Saudi Arabia, they have explained how they will provide tug services. International Maritime Industries (IMI) is building a US$5.2Bn shipyard at Ras Al Khair on the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia. According to IMI chief operating officer Yi Seong Kang, this will be the largest full-service maritime facility in the Middle East and will be able to compete with the largest shipyards in Asia for construction. When completed in 2020, it will be owned 50.1% by Saudi Aramco, 19.9% by Saudi shipping group Bahri, 20% by drilling rig builder Lamprell and 10% by Hyundai Heavy Industries. IMI will focus on ship, offshore vessel, rig and workboat construction, and their through-life maintenance and commercial ship repair. It will require services from a fleet of tugs, which Mr Yi told Tug Technology & Business would be owned by the Saudi Government’s port authority. He said the shipyard will build at least four tugs for the port authority and lease them when required. They need to be large enough to manoeuvre the very large
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
crude carriers Bahri plans to build at the facility and maintain through their lifetime. These tugs will also handle offshore drilling rigs as they are either brought into the facility or are built there, and merchant ships of all sizes as IMI will be operating one of the biggest ship repair facilities in the region from 2020. Construction at the site is underway with dredging and associated activities in progress, requiring tug assistance. There are other shipbuilding facilities in Saudi Arabia and plans to construct more. Riyadh-based Al Blagha Group operates marine infrastructure in Saudi Arabia including a shipyard in Dammam, which manages construction projects for shipowners in the Middle East. It also operates a shipyard in Jeddah, which builds ships and repairs vessels for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces, Royal Saudi Coastguard and Saudi Aramco. Zamil Shipbuilding operates a shipyard at King Abdul-Aziz Port in Dammam that constructs offshore support vessels for Zamil’s own fleet and for Saudi Aramco. Zamil has plans to construct other shipbuilding facilities in consortia with other companies in Saudi Arabia.
Bahrain terminal support
In Bahrain, Smit Lamnalco has won a contract to provide escort and towage services to a floating LNG import terminal. The National Oil and Gas Authority of Bahrain handed out a 20-year contract for marine services at the terminal. The centerpiece of the deal is to provide four 70-tonne bollard pull tugs to assist with escorting, berthing and departure of LNG carriers visiting the facility. As part of its overall package, the towage and marine services provider will help develop infrastructure that supports the project. Smit Lamnalco will initially employ four escort tugs from its existing LNG terminal support fleet. However, in the fifth year of the contract these vessels will be replaced by four new purpose-built tugs for the remaining 15 years. In addition to tug operations, Smit Lamnalco’s full portfolio of LNG-related terminal services encompasses emergency response, pilotage and mooring, logistics and shore base management, environmental response, vessel traffic monitoring, marine consultancy, terminal management and inspection, repair and maintenance operations. TTB
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middle east SPECIAL FOCUS | 35
Damen tugs built for UAE and Oman terminals
D
amen Shipyards group and affiliates have delivered three highly manoeuvrable tugs to two owners to support ports and terminals in the Middle East. Smit Lamnalco and RAK Ports have taken delivery of azimuth stern drive (ASD) tugs from Damen shipyards in the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. In July, Damen delivered two ASD 3212 tugs to Smit Lamnalco to assist ships berthing and unberthing at a fertiliser terminal in Oman. SL Murjan and SL Lulu are owned and operated by the joint venture Bahwan Lamnalco Co. These 32-m tugs have begun operating at Oman India Fertiliser Co’s dedicated terminal in the Port of Sur. They were initially built to a standard ASD 3212 design as part of Damen’s stock at the Song Cam Shipyard in Vietnam, then customised to Smit Lamnalco’s requirements with a modified aft deck and the addition of an aft winch to SL Lulu. These two tugs are part of an order for four ASD 3212 design units for Smit Lamnalco, ordered in November 2017. The other two are destined to operate in the port for the mining town of Weipa in Queensland, Australia, on a Rio Tinto project in Q4 2018. Rotterdam-headquartered Smit Lamnalco has a longstanding relationship with Damen Shipyards and operates 55 tugs built by the group in its fleet. Smit Lamnalco will need to order more new tugs after it gained a 20-year contract to provide marine services at an LNG terminal in Bahrain for the National Oil and Gas Authority. In June, Albwardy Damen shipyard in Sharjah, UAE, launched a
new ASD tug constructed for Saqr Port, part of the Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Ports group. Saqr Port ordered the tug from the UAE shipyard in May 2017 after it started building a new terminal to accommodate some of the world’s largest bulk carriers. Its keel was laid and construction was underway at the shipyard in September 2017. This 29-m tug was built to a Damen ASD 2913 design to operate in a new deepwater bulk terminal scheduled for completion at Saqr port later this year. It will have 80 tonnes of bollard pull to provide additional power for manoeuvring Capesize vessels. This compact and powerful tug can manoeuvre within the restricted waters of the harbour and handle the strong winds that sweep across the port with little or no warning. It therefore has a high freeboard and a raised quarterdeck for safe operations in rough seas. It is part of a series of ASD 2913 tugs under construction at Albwardy Damen for future sale. Another three ASD tugs of this type with 60 tonnes and 70 tonnes bollard pull are being built for stock. TTB witnessed the launch of a similar design tug during a visit to the shipyard in September 2017. RAK Ports has returned to Damen Shipyards for multiple tugs in the past decade. It operates seven tugs built by Damen including five stan tugs, one of ASD 2411 design and another of ASD 2310 design. Saqr Port serves the fast-growing quarry industry in RAK, which exports up to 55M tonnes of bulk materials through the port each year. TTB
SL Lulu will be operated by Bahwan Lamnalco Co in the Port of Sur, Oman
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Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
36 | SPECIAL FOCUS nothern europe
European owners invest in new tugs and technology Northern Europe is a highly competitive market for towage service providers, who continue to invest in new tugs and innovative design concepts
O
perators of tugboats in northern Europe continue to purchase new tugs and invest in design innovations despite the market being described as one of the most competitive worldwide. Owners have enhanced their fleets with more powerful tugs in reaction to the increasing size of ships, particularly container and car carriers, using the region’s ports. Multraship Towage & Salvage is at the forefront of investing in different tug designs and technology to enhance its fleet. Multraship operates two of the world’s first Carrousel RAVE tugs in northern Europe, Multratug 32 and Multratug 33, which combine a Robert Allan-designed hull with a rotating winch system and inline Voith Schneider propellers. These Bureau Veritas-classed 31.9-m tugs are owned by Novatug and leased to Multraship, which tested them in the Netherlands and deployed them in Germany and Belgium this year. The hulls were built by Theodor Buschmann in Hamburg, Germany, before being mobilised to Stellendam, the Netherlands, in 2017 for fitting-out by Damen.
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
Multratug 32 was tested in Rotterdam in January and deployed in Antwerp in February this year, said Multraship senior commercial manager Dirk Provoost. It was replaced by Multratug 33 in April and redeployed in the port of Bremenhaven, Germany, he told Tug Technology & Business at the Posidonia exhibition in Athens, Greece, in June. These are the only two commercially operating tugs in the world with carrousel rotating winch systems, supplied by Machinefabriek Luyt. They rotate 360° around the wheelhouse of the tug in response to the movements of the tug and the ship it is towing. Multraship commercial manager Willem Spijker said the carrousel rotating winch and inline Voith Schneider propellers “improve manoeuvrability and stability of tug operations.” Mr Provoost said this makes the tug almost impossible to capsize,” which is a “good advantage for safety and lowering fuel consumption.” They expect more Carrousel RAVE tugs to be built as they have proved their technical and safety capabilities. “Novatug created this concept and if there are buyers, it will build more,” said Mr Provoost.
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nothern europe SPECIAL FOCUS | 37
Multraship was “committed to investing in order to compete and, where appropriate, to working alongside other competitors.” Mr Muller said Multraship will “continue to invest in quality and safety and will evolve in line with the demands” in harbour and terminal operations, sea towage, salvage, offshore and renewable energy projects and port services.
Hybrid and conventional
Multratug 9 has 50 tonnes of bollard pull and top speed of 12 knots
Fleet expansion
Multraship has added other tugs to its northern European fleet this year in response to changing requirements and competition. “It is a challenging and tough market as everyone wants the same pieces of cake” in ports such as Hamburg, Antwerp and Rotterdam, he said. In July, Multraship christened Multratug 31 at Terneuzen in the Netherlands. This is a 453-gt, 83-tonne bollard pull fire-fighting and towage tug that entered service late in 2017. In April, Multraship acquired an azimuthing stern drive tug with 50 tonnes of bollard pull from Turkish shipbuilder, Med Marine, for its Terneuzen harbour operations. Multratug 9 has twin Caterpillar 3512B engines that each develops 1,230 kW of power at 1,600 rpm and drives two Rolls-Royce US155/2620 azimuthing propellers, which give the 2009-built tug a top speed of 12 knots. It replaced a 33-tonne bollard pull tug of the same name which is no longer operational and will now be put up for sale. The new Multratug 9 was in action in June along with three other tugs to refloat 2005-built bulker Harrow, which ran aground on the Western Scheldt, near Vlissingen in the Netherlands. It was aided by Smit Seine, Multratug 4 and Multratug 7, christened at Terneuzen in June. Multratug 7 is a fire-fighting and towage tug with 62 tonnes of bollard pull built by Damen in Romania. Damen also built a tug with 86 tonnes of bollard pull for Multraship this year. Multratug 29 replaced a 2015-built tug of the same name that has been sold to Shetland Islands’ authorities. Other fleet additions include: • Salvage craft Multrasalvor 4 (ex Vos Shelter). • Salvage craft Multrasalvor 5 (ex Sara Maatje VIII). • Multratug 28 – 75-tonnes bollard pull ASD tug. • Montis 5 – Damen stan launch. • VB2 – Damen stan launch. Multraship managing director Leendert Muller said tugs were added to the fleet because the market “is so volatile, and continues to change, giving rise to demand for new and better services.” He explained that
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Kotug Smit Towage has also been christening and adding tugs to its fleet this year. It officially named Damen-built Rotterdam and Beagle in the Port of Rotterdam on 13 June. Both tugs support ships in harbour areas of Rotterdam including escort and vessel manoeuvring, berthing and unberthing duties. Rotterdam is a 29-m ASD 2913 tug built with more than 80 tonnes of bollard pull. Bea'gle is a 24-m azimuth tractor tug (ATD) of 2412 design with twin fins on the hull. It has a bollard pull of 72 tonnes and is described by its owner as combining compactness with manoeuvrability. Kotug Smit intends to name another of its newbuildings, Buffalo, in Southampton, UK, in September this year. This 24.7-m ATD featured in a newbuild profile TTB, Q2 2018. Kotug Smit chief executive Rene Raaijmakers told TTB that these investments were made to ensure the company remained competitive in harbour services as other tug operators have also upgraded their fleets, and the size of ships using these ports are increasing. Kotug Smit Towage was established as a joint venture between Kotug International and Boskalis subsidiary, Smit, on 7 April 2016 to provide harbour towage services in northern Europe. It operates in 12 ports in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. Although Kotug Smit is currently investing in diesel-powered tugs, it operates the world's largest fleet of hybrid tugs, with five operating in UK and northern European ports, said Mr Raaijmakers. He said these have exceeded operational performance and have lower operating expenditure because batteries reduce fuel consumption. However, they have not attracted higher rates from charterers than conventional tugs, which Mr Raaijmakers had expected for tugs with green technology, because of the competitive nature of the northern European market.
ASD tug contracts
Another Netherlands-based tug owner, Iskes Towage & Salvage, has ordered two ASD tugs from Damen to service a new port service contract the owner expects to commence in either Q4 2019 or Q1 2020. Iskes has ordered two ASD 2312 tugs for ship-handling operations, salvage and coastal towing. These 23-m tugs will have bollard pulls of around 60 tonnes in both push and pull modes and accommodation for six people. They will also have 54 m² of aft deck space and propulsion compliant with IMO Tier III requirements. These latest purchases will take the number of Damen ASD tugs owned and operated by Iskes to 11 in a total fleet of 20 vessels. Meanwhile, the Port of Rotterdam and RH Marine Group have sold the joint venture Royal Dirkzwager Coastal & Deep Sea Pilots (DCP) to Redwise Marine Holding. DCP provides pilotage, offshore vessel tracking services and deepsea pilot training. RedwiseDCP pilots can safely navigate loaded tankers, car carriers and container vessels from the English Channel, across the North Sea and up to the entrance of the Baltic Sea. TTB
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
38 | SPECIAL FOCUS nothern europe
Merged players dominate European tug market
H
ousehold names such as Kotug Smit, Fairplay Bugsier and Svitzer Tugs are at the forefront with recent mergers bringing huge fleets and competitive strength in managing port operations. Some smaller companies still survive but it is an increasing struggle to remain in business individually and more mergers are likely. Damen Shipyards dominates construction in northern Europe with its azimuth stern drive (ASD) designs inducing purchases. New designs continue to emerge from this designer and it operates 32 shipyards globally. Damen’s secret is to build hulls for all their designs, stack the hulls and sell to owners by offering delivery inducements of only 4-8 weeks. Mergers have mainly wrapped up north European ship towage, but there are other owners operating in the hinterland for specialist tows. They compete head on with the majors with a fair degree of success. For ship towage
Owners are investing in new tugs in a vibrant north European market dominated by mergers and joint ventures, writes Barry Luthwaite
there are few individual companies surviving for port services. However, Iskes Towage & Salvage is forging a strong independent position in harbour, deepsea, salvage and emergency response services and offshore support around northern Europe. It covers Amsterdam ship towage and Europort operations as the mainstay ship employment. Iskes has expanded to remain competitive, with new orders destined to support construction of new berths. This year it received two 62.2-tonne
Fairplay merged with Bugsier in 2017 to form a major tug group in the region
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
bollard pull ASD units – Lynx and Phoenix– boosting the fleet to 19 units. Four of these tugs have bollard pulls of 70-83 tonnes and were purpose built for offshore business. Iskes’ fleet will increase by a further two tugs in 2019 after contracts were signed for two Damen 2312 units in June. These new additions are compliant with new stability regulations and harmonised class rules that will be adopted in January 2020 under IMO Tier III conditions. Iskes is the first buyer of the new ASD 2312. These 60-tonne bollard pull tugs are required to serve a new port complex which is anticipated to be commissioned in 2019-2020. In total six tugs have been ordered from Dutch shipyards this year including two for Iskes, three for Corpetrolsa, all with Damen; and one for an unnamed Dutch operator at Neptune Shipyards. Dutch shipbuilder Shipyard De Hoop delivered six tugs this year to a consortium led by Blue Water Shipping for the Tengiz expansion project in Kazakhstan. These were mobilised to the Caspian to begin project towage work between March and June this year (Tug Technology & Business, Q2 2018). French ports are to receive a boost after an order was placed for a probable eight-unit order with Piriou, in Vietnam. These new tugs are scheduled to be commissioned under the Boluda France banner from mid-2019. They will have 77 tonnes of bollard pull and will operate push and tow operations. Options are attached for six more tugs, all for French operation. Indications are that berth slots are reserved and these have firmed but absolute confirmation is lacking. In addition to an overhaul of the French tug fleet, France is keen to upgrade facilities in Dunkirk – the country’s third-largest port – with two new container berths earmarked to receive the world’s biggest ultra-large container carriers. TTB
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40 | SPECIAL FOCUS nothern europe
UK fleet expands with ASD newbuildings T
ug owners are improving the capabilities of their UK-based fleets in reaction to the increasing size of ships entering British ports by investing in new tugs. SMS Towage has sourced new tugs for its growing fleet from Turkish shipbuilder Sanmar. In Q2 2018 it took delivery of its first Sanmar Sirapinar design tug, Pullman. This followed the delivery of a new azimuthing stern drive (ASD) tug with 50 tonnes of bollard pull in February this year, named Nobleman, and a more powerful ASD tug with 72 tonnes of bollard pull in November 2017, christened Superman (Tug Technology & Business, Q1 2018). Pullman was built to an adapted Robert Allan design that is more compact and
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
SMS Towage, Forth Ports, Targe Towing and Svitzer Europe have added new azimuthing stern drive tugs to their UK fleets to meet growth in port services
BELOW: Forth Ports introduced Sanmarbuilt tug Craigleith to its Scottish operations
has lower operational and maintenance costs than a conventional harbour tug. For SMS Towage managing director Paul Escreet, Pullman’s “performance and ease of handling” were attractive. “We have at our disposal the most advanced design of ship handling tugs in the UK,” Mr Escreet said. He told TTB additional tugs were required as SMS Towage won more port and terminal services contracts and extended its capabilities in the UK. SMS Towage provides ship handling, towage, escort and salvage services from ports around the Humber, in Belfast, Portsmouth and in the Welsh ports of Barry, Cardiff and Newport. This has been on the back of increasing numbers of container ships, cruise liners, tankers and dry cargo ships visiting these
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nothern europe SPECIAL FOCUS | 41
LEFT: Svitzer Europe added Svitzer Vale to its UK fleet in May
PULLMAN PARTICULARS Owner: SMS Towage Operates: Humber, England Builder: Sanmar Designer: Robert Allan Design: Sirapinar Built: 2018 Length, oa: 22.4 m Breadth, moulded: 10.8 m
ports, and growth in demand from the offshore renewables industry, Mr Escreet said. SMS Towage is continuing to purchase additional Sanmar vessels for its fleet. Pullman is the latest of these deliveries. This 22.4-m tug has a moulded beam of 10.8 m and draught of 4.5 m, a pair of Caterpillar 3512C main engines and two Schottel SRP 1012 azimuthing Rudderpropellers. Pullman is also fitted with a DMT forward winch, an aft capstan and a tow hook, has accommodation for six crew members and a bollard pull of 45 tonnes. SMS Towage added Pullman to its Humber fleet, where it handles ships including shuttle tankers, such as Amundsen Spirit, at the beginning of July. Superman is also deployed on the Humber and at the end of June it towed cruise ship Marco Polo into the port of Hull. Nobleman is a sister tug to SMS Towage's ASD tugs, Englishman and Scotsman, which each have bollard pulls of 50 tonnes. Forth Estuary Towage expanded its capabilities in the Firth of Forth by purchasing a new terminal tug. The Forth Ports subsidiary took delivery of a new 28.2-m ASD tug from Sanmar in May. Craigleith is a Robert Allan RAstar 2800 design tug with 70 tonnes of bollard pull and a free running speed of 12.5 knots. It has Rolls-Royce supplied MTU main engines, which each generates 2,000 kW of power and drives two Schottel Rudderpropellers. On the deck, Craigleith has a DMT forward winch, an aft 90-tonne SWL hydraulic towing hook and a Palfinger deck crane. It also has a FiFi 1 fire-fighting unit and accommodation for eight people. Forth Estuary Towage is based in Leith, Scotland, and provides towage services at
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the Braefoot Bay terminal. It ordered an ASD type tug newbuilding from Sanmar after chartering one for several months in 2017. Its existing fleet are Voith Schneiderpropelled vessels. Forth Ports operates eight commercial ports in the UK – Tilbury on the Thames, Dundee on the Firth of Tay and six on the Firth of Forth including two specialised marine terminals for oil and gas exports. It also provides towage and conservancy services. Targe Towing, which operates tugs on the Forth, also took delivery of a Sanmar tug this year. This Montrose, Scotlandheadquartered operator purchased a Bogaçay-class tug and renamed it Kittiwake after it arrived in Scotland. It ordered this tug after securing a contract extension covering the marine services it provides at the Hound Point oil terminal on the Forth. This terminal loads oil produced from North Sea platforms on to tankers for export worldwide. Kittiwake is an ASD tug with 60 tonnes of bollard pull and a FiFi 1 fire-fighting system. Targe also provides dedicated towage services in the ports of Aberdeen, Dundee and Peterhead in Scotland. Svitzer Europe added two Sanmar tugs to its UK fleet in Q2 2018, although one left for north European duties in July. These 25.3-m ABS-classed tugs have boosted the Svitzer Europe fleet to 113 vessels. Svitzer Vale arrived in the Port of London at the beginning of May. Svitzer Meridian arrived in July, while Svitzer Vale departed for the vessel owning group’s Scandinavia and Germany cluster. Both tugs are of the Delicay-class and built to Traktor-Z 2500SX designs. They have bollard pulls of around 70 tonnes and maximum speeds of 12.5 knots. TTB
Draught: 4.5 m Bollard pull: 45 tonnes Engines: 2 x Caterpillar 3512C Propulsion: 2 x Schottel SRP 1012 Accommodation: six people
CRAIGLEITH PARTICULARS Owner: Forth Estuary Towage Operates: Forth, Scotland Builder: Sanmar Designer: Robert Allan Design: RAstar 2800 Built: 2018 Length, oa: 28.2 m Breadth, moulded: 12.6 m Bollard pull: 45 tonnes Top speed: 12.5 knots Engines: 2 x MTU (2,000 kW) Propulsion: 2 x Schottel SRP
UK TUG DELIVERIES 2018 UK tugboat owners have taken delivery of seven tugs in 2018: Forth Ports: Craigleith. Kotug Smit: Buffalo. SMS Towage: Pullman. SMS Towage: Nobleman. Svitzer Europe: Svitzer Vale. Svitzer Europe: Svitzer Meridian. Targe Towing: Kittiwake.
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
42 | DESIGN
VB Tempete was built by Piriou for Boluda France in 2016 as an ASD tug with 70 tonnes of bollard pull
Piriou adapts harbour tug design for Boluda series
P
iriou adapted its harbour tug design for the latest towage and ship manoeuvring requirements of Boluda Corporación Maritima. It gained a contract for a series of at least eight new tugs for harbour towage and escort duties in May this year from Boluda's French subsidiary. The tugs were contracted based on an updated version of Piriou’s Omni Stern Tug (OST) model and are longer and more powerful than the previous series it built for Boluda France. Piriou will build the series of harbour tugs at its shipyard in Vietnam with the first tugs
Omni Stern Tug 30 is an ASD tug design with 77 tonnes of bollard pull, a top speed of 13 knots and equipment for both harbour towage and deepsea escort duties
scheduled for delivery in 2019 and the remainder in 2020. Once delivered, these tugs will enter service in various harbours in France, particularly where larger container ships and cruise ships visit. This series will have more power and greater manoeuvrability than previous
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
tugs the Vietnam yard has built for Boluda France. They will be 30.3 m tugs, each with a bollard pull of around 77 tonnes, more powerful than the two previous series of tugs the Vietnamese shipyard built for Boluda, which had 70 tonnes of bollard pull. Boluda France chief
executive Denis Monserand said these tugs will meet its clients’ requirements for higher performance. “This new series will feature higher bollard pull than previous generations, up to 77 tonnes, enabling our crews to service vessels of ever-increasing size in the best conditions,” he said. For Piriou general manager Vincent Faujour, this contract award is part of a long-standing partnership the shipyard has with Boluda France, which spans at least 20 years. He went on to explain that the new series of tugs will be based on Piriou’s OST 30 model. OST 30 was designed as an escort-class, multipurpose tug
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DESIGN | 43
OST 30 PARTICULARS
PIRIOU TUG DESIGNS
Designer: Piriou
Design
length (m)
bollard pull (tonnes) 55
Builder: Piriou Shipyard, Vietnam Owner: Boluda France Type: harbour towage/escort Length, oa: 30.3 m Breadth, moulded: 10.4 m
OST 24
24.5
OST 24W
24.5
75
OST 28
28.0
65
OST 30
30.3
77
OST 32
32.0
95
OST 32E
32.0
95
Main deck depth: 4.45 m Maximum draught: 5.3 m Bollard pull: 77 tonnes Maximum speed: 13 knots Engines: 2 x 2,240 kW medium-speed, four-stroke Accommodation: six seafarers Fuel capacity: 85 m3 Fresh water capacity: 16 m3
VB Cyclone was one of two tugs deployed in the ports of St Nazaire and Dunkirk in 2015
adapted for push-pull types of towage and harbour assistance operations. This design of tug is also suitable for deepsea operations, such as escorting large ships into French ports, and will have a top speed of around 13 knots.
OST 30 specifics
The 30.3 m tugs have a moulded breadth of 10.4 m and depth at the main deck of 4.45 m. They were designed for shallow water operations with a maximum draught of 5.3 m. OST 30 has two aft azimuthing propellers for greater manoeuvrability. OST 30 are azimuthing stern drive tugs with two medium-speed and four-stroke diesel engines each able to generate 2,240 kW of power, with turbochargers and freshwater cooling that comes with box cooler refrigerants. The tugs will have fuel storage capacity of around 85 m3 and fresh water capacity of 16 m3. Piriou reviewed design
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of the wheelhouse for these tugs. Bridges on OST 30 are designed with ergonomics for the tug captain with a singlecommand control station and electronics within easy reach. The wheelhouse has high visibility over the entire working area and its surroundings with 360˚ of windows, enabling a master to manoeuvre the tug without assistance. OST 30 was designed to be maintained every five years with special hull antifouling and an impressed current antifouling system. Its accommodation is designed for six crew members and is in accordance with International Labour Organization 2006 requirements for comfort and noise reduction. Piriou customised its OST 30 design to cater for Boluda France’s requirements for emergency response and deepsea operations, adding a FiFi 1 fire-fighting system with mechanics in the engineroom and two monitors on deck. It also added an aft sea towing
winch and tugger winch for deepsea towage. Another addition was a double-drum fore winch with functionality for ship escort operations.
Partnership and versatile designs
Boluda France’s latest tugboat order comes after a series of six tugs with bollard pulls of 70 tonnes was built by Piriou Shipyard between 2015 and 2017. Piriou also built a series of eight tugs with similar bollard pulls for Boluda France between 2007 and 2009. Boluda deployed Pirioubuilt tugs with 70 tonnes of bollard pull in the Port of Le Havre and in Réunion Island in 2017. VB Volcan was deployed to the port of La Réunion in the Indian Ocean and VB Tornade commenced operations in the port of Le Havre. Both ports have seen an increase in containerised traffic and needed more towage capacity to receive the larger container ships.
In 2016, Boluda France took delivery of VB Typhon and VB Tempete, each of 30.3 m and 70 tonnes of bollard pull, from Piriou. In 2015, it deployed similar-sized and Piriou-built VB Ouragan and VB Cyclone in the ports of St Nazaire and Dunkirk. These tugs have propulsion from Schottel and engines from Anglo Belgium Corp. Piriou has developed a series of versatile and compact tug designs for harbour towage and escort operations, ranging in length from 24 m to 32 m and in bollard pull from 30 tonnes to 95 tonnes. For harbour assistance it designed OST 24W. The range for harbour and coastal services includes OST 24, OST 28, OST 30 and OST 32. Piriou also designed OST 32E as a tug for escort and terminal services. Boluda France operates a fleet of 75 tugs and 30 service vessels in 15 harbours and terminals in France, Africa, such as in the port of Lomé in Togo, and the Indian Ocean. TTB
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
44 | HARBOUR TOWAGE
Innovative tug designs delivered for harbour operations
Innovation is a Damen RSD 2513 tug with 75 tonnes ahead and 71 tonnes astern (credit: Riviera Maritime Media)
T
ug owners have a choice of new designs for improving harbour towage. This year has seen construction of tugs to ingenious designs that demonstrate the improvements in manoeuvrability and versatility of harbour tugs. There will be new designs of Carrousel RAVE tugs, of which the first two are already in operation – Multratug 32 and Multratug 33, in Belgium and Germany. Naval architects at Robert Allan are designing a new variant of this innovative concept for Novatug, combining a Carrousel rotating towing system, Robert Allan hull design and Voith Turbo inline propulsion. The two existing Carrousel RAVE tugs (CRT Large design) have an overall length of 32 m and 77 tonnes of bollard pull.
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
INNOVATION SPECIFICATION Design: RSD 2513 Built: April 2018 Builder: Damen Shipyards Owner: Damen Marine Services Class: Bureau Veritas Length, oa: 25 m Beam, oa: 13 m Draught: 5.5 m Displacement: 525 tonnes Bollard pull ahead: 75 tonnes Bollard pull astern: 71 tonnes Speed ahead: 13 knots Speed astern: 12.8 knots
Reversed stern drive, Carrousel RAVE, azimuth stern drive and RApport designs enhance harbour towage, while hybrid and LNG bring green alternatives
Novatug’s next variant (CRT Medium) will have an overall length of 28 m and bollard pull of about 50 tonnes. It will still have Voith inline propulsion along the centreline of the hull and the Carrousel towing system. Robert Allan and Novatug said this design will be fuel-efficient and provide “inherently safe towing assistance in dynamic conditions with manoeuvrability for operations in confined waterways, locks” and other tight spaces. Competing with this concept for harbour towage and ship manoeuvring in tight areas is Damen’s reversed stern drive (RSD) tug design, the first of which, Innovation, was unveiled during Q2 2018. Tug Technology & Business witnessed its capabilities during a demonstration in Southampton, UK, in June. This design combines elements of tractor tugs and azimuth stern drive (ASD) units. It has a patented twin-fin skeg and the ability to tow ships ahead or astern. With expectations high for this design, Damen also constructed a hybrid propulsion version, said Damen sales manager for north, west and south Europe Arjen van Elk. He also said there are plans to build more of both IMO Tier II and Tier III diesel-only versions in different sizes, and hybrid tugs. Innovation is a 25-m tug, built by Damen to a RSD Tug 2513 design, and has a bollard pull of 75 tonnes ahead and 71 tonnes astern. Its 13-m beam is wider than other tugs of this size, which Mr van Elk said improves its stability. He said its 5.5 m draught means this tug can assist ships from its bow and stern in most harbours. He added that Innovation has a maximum speed ahead of 13 knots and slightly less, 12.8 knots, astern. Mr van Elk went on to explain that Innovation has a higher freeboard than
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HARBOUR TOWAGE | 45
is usual on a tugboat of this size, which enhances safety and stability. It also has shatterproof glass around the wheelhouse to protect crew and a glued superstructure to counter noise and vibration. In addition, Damen has extended its series of ASD tug designs with two multipurpose vessels. ASD 2312 has 60 tonnes of bollard pull from a 23-m harbour tug in push and pull modes. It has an aft deck area of 54 m2 and six-person accommodation. ASD 2813 tug has 80 tonnes of bollard pull from a 28-m tug, an aft deck area of 82 m2 and accommodation for 10 seafarers. Damen has also broadened its benchmark ASD harbour tug design from 2810 to an ASD 2811 (11 m beam compared with 10 m of the previous design). ASD 2811 has 60 tonnes of bollard pull both in push and pull mode. Its harbour tugs come with conventional diesel-driven main engines that are IMO Tier II compliant. To become Tier III, Damen can install its marine NOx reduction system, which it unveiled in June. Damen product manager for tugs Dirk Degroote said these ASD and RSD tugs are for the next generation of harbour towage operations. “Development of the next-generation series has been about taking the best of our existing vessels and adding innovation to deliver a range of vessels fit for the future,” he said.
RApport variant
Rivalling these designs is new architecture from Robert Allan and Sanmar Shipyards on the first RApport 1600-SX tug, with Gökçay commencing operations in May. This is a steel twinscrew harbour tug designed for stability, manoeuvrability and affordability. This Bureau Veritas-classed, 16.3-m tug has conventional twin-screw propulsion with twin nozzles and four rudders, providing Gökçay with a bollard pull of 21 tonnes and a top speed of 11.5 knots. This power comes from two Caterpillar
GÖKÇAY PARTICULARS Builder: Sanmar Designer: Robert Allan Design: RApport 1600-SX
C18 engines, which each develop 650 kW of power and turn two five-bladed propellers of 145 cm diameter, through Reintjes 5.5:1 reverse and reduction gears. There are twin high-aspect ratio rudders fitted behind each nozzle. Gökçay’s stability is assisted by the fuel storage involving a two-tank arrangement with wing tanks port and starboard, centrally located to minimise the effect on trim. On the aft deck there is a 25-tonne towhook with an electric-driven winch and pipe bollards are fitted in the bulwarks for mooring. The wheelhouse has extra-large windows facing the aft and funnels have a low profile, meaning that most of the aft deck is visible to the operator. Gökçay has fendering for harbour operations including 250 mm D-shaped fenders at the sheer and vertical W fenders around the bow.
Class: Bureau Veritas Length, oa: 16.3 m Breadth, moulded: 7.4 m Depth, moulded: 3.3 m Draught: 2.7 m Speed: 11.5 knots Bollard pull: 21 tonnes Fuel oil: 15 m3 Crew: 3 persons Main engines: 2 x Cat C18, 650 kW
LNG alternative
PSA Marine has chosen dual-fuel propulsion for its next harbour tug. In March, it contracted Wärtsilä to design and equip a harbour tug it ordered from PaxOcean Shipyard. This 28-m tug will run on LNG fuel that PSA Marine expects will reduce its carbon footprint and emissions of NOx and SOx gases. This tug will have a bollard pull of around 50 tonnes from two Wärtsilä 20DF dual-fuel engines that will run primarily on LNG. Wärtsilä will also supply its LNGPac fuel storage and supply system, steerable thrusters and a Wärtsilä ProTouch control system. This equipment is due to be delivered to PaxOcean’s shipyard at the end of this year. PSA’s dual-fuel tug is expected to commence operations in the port of Singapore around mid-2019. It will join two other LNG-fuelled tugs that will be already in operation by the end of this year including KST Liberty, a 32-m ASD tug built by Keppel Singmarine for Keppel Smit Towage christened in May. Keppel Singmarine is also building a similar dualfuel tug for Maju Maritime for delivery in Q3 this year (Tug Technology & Business, Q2 2018). TTB
LEFT: Gökçay is a 16.3 m harbour tug of RApport 1600-SX design
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Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
46 | HARBOUR TOWAGE
Editor’s comment: Advantage of towing both ways Damen Shipyards demonstrated that its reversed stern drive (RSD) tug has a future for harbour towage in restricted ports. I witnessed this brand-new Damen tug design when it was tested in Southampton, UK, in June. In my opinion, harbour towage will be revolutionised by this new design of tug that can operate in tight ports in both directions. Whether this is of the first design, an RSD 2513, a smaller unit or a hybrid version, there will be more of these types of tugs operating in harbours worldwide within the next three years. Damen already has plans to produce
several on speculative basis. After seeing its capabilities first hand, I strongly feel this design has a future for operations in ports, terminals and coastal towage. Innovation is an April 2018-built and Bureau Veritasclassed tugboat designed for towage and ship assistance in harbours from both the stern and bow. Damen has shown that an RSD tug is unique in performance and manoeuvrability. It has a tight 360˚ turning circle and an emergency stop that felt more like being on a fairground ride. With its ability to operate ahead and astern, and with this manoeuvrability, I expect Damen will be
Innovation engineroom delivers the power and manoeuvrability Innovation has a pair of Rolls-Royce MTU 4000 series M63L main engines with 16 valves and each produces 2,240 kW at 1,800 rpm. These drive Rolls-Royce US255 thrusters with 2.7 m diameter propellers, providing the reversed stern drive RSD 2513 design tug with its tight 360˚ turns and top speed of 13 knots. They also help generate bollard pull of 75 tonnes ahead and 71 tonnes astern.
Innovation's two MTU 4000 series M63L main engines and two Cat C4.4TA gensets (credit: Riviera Maritime Media)
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
Additional power comes from two Caterpillar C4.4TA generator sets that produce 81 kVA, 400/230 V at 50 Hz frequency. Also in the engineroom are Azcue bilge, fuel and service pumps. Damen has introduced a remote monitoring system for its engineroom machinery. Deck equipment on Innovation includes a hydraulic towage winch that has a split drum and can deliver a pull of 31 tonnes at up to 11 m/min or a reduced pull at up to 38 m/min. It has a 175-tonne brake. There is also an electrically driven anchor winch that operates up to 10 m/ min and a 360 kg anchor. In the wheelhouse, Furuno Electric supplied a FAR-1518-BB radar, FE-800 echosounder, DS-80 speedlog, Navtex and automatic identification system equipment. There is also: • Cassens & Plath Reflecta 11 compass. • Simrad AP-70 autopilot. • GN70 satellite compass. • Simrad GPS. • Jotron Tron-60S emergency position indicating radio beacon. • Jotron SART search and rescue transponder. Innovation’s communications include VSAT with a Intellian v60G antenna that operates over Inmarsat’s Global Xpress network. Cobham Satcom supplied two Sailor 6222 VHF radios and Jotron supplied hand-held VHF. TTB
getting orders very soon for RSD tugs. I have witnessed the future of harbour towage and ship assistance operations and expect a great future for this tug design.
New towage safety guidance published In the wake of a number of towage accidents in the last two years, UK-based National Workboat Association (NWA) has released a second edition of Use of Workboats for Towage: Good Practice Guide to improve safety in the sector. This provides advice and recommendations for safely operating tugs and is an updated version of NWA’s existing guidance which includes feedback from towage operators throughout the UK and Europe. It was written after tugs capsized during towage operations leading to seafarer deaths. This included the sinking of tug Domingue, with two fatalities, while manoeuvring container ship CMA CGM Simba in Tulear, Madagascar on 20 September 2016. NWA’s updated version includes additional guidance on the safe use of gog ropes to prevent girting, or capsizing workboats during towage and harbour operations. While this is a rare occurrence, incidents of girting continue to pose a significant challenge to the safe completion of towage operations, said NWA. This leaves tug operators vulnerable to financial and reputational damage and is a danger to human life. This second edition of Good Practice Guide was developed in collaboration with SMS Towage captain Gareth Bonner. It is designed to help tug masters interpret the stability books on board individual vessels. It covers the basic principles of stability and defines regularly used terminology found in stability documentation on workboats, helping to prevent any lack of clarity that could pose a risk to the safe operation of tugs. For more information about this guide use this link: http://bit.ly/TTB_NWA_Guide
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update SALVAGE | 49
Kea Trader split in two on the Durand Reef in the South Pacific
Kea Trader remains a tough wreck to remove
O
ne year on from crashing on a Pacific Ocean reef, a container shipwreck still remains there, broken and difficult to remove. One of the longestrunning salvage projects this decade, Kea Trader’s removal has turned into an arduous and challenging task, but the owner Lomar Shipping said progress had been made. This Malta-registered, 25,293 dwt ship ran aground on 12 July 2017 on the Durand Reef in New Caledonia, loaded with 782 container units and flat-racks. This 2,194 TEU ship had only been delivered in January 2017 and was sailing from Papeete, in French Polynesia, to Nouméa in New Caledonia. Salvage work was started by Ardent and then transferred to Shanghai Salvage Co (SSC) in March for wreck removal. But Kea Trader remains on the reef in two pieces after starting to break up in storm conditions in November 2017. A Lomar spokesman told Tug Technology & Business that “tremendous progress had been made” in the past 12 months to safely remove Kea Trader. “However, these efforts have been stymied by horrendous conditions on site.” In the past 12 months, 1,009 m³ of heavy fuel oils, diesel and other lube oils, and more recently oily polluted water has been removed. So have 697 of the original load of 782 containers and flat-racks on board. But progress has been
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hampered by storms and sea swells. “It will continue to take time to complete but the safety of those involved and the protection of this marine environment must remain our priority,” said the Lomar spokesman. “We are moving forward with every passing month.” Four offshore vessels continue to work on site, while also monitoring the ocean for any floating debris and pollutants. Airbags have been used to remove larger pieces of hull structure off the reef bed and onto the 19,000 gt Ju Li, a logistics support and command platform that is now co-ordinating SSC operations on site. Attention switched in May to recovering debris on the reef that detached during the storms. A new bathymetric survey was conducted in May to determine surface conditions and highlight the precise location of debris. This enabled a shallow draught workboat to move around the reef for divers on board ready to collect metal fragments. Recovered material and debris will be recycled by local businesses in New Caledonia. During Q2, SSC mobilised more heavy-lift resources to the site. Lomar said this formed “part of a revised methodology for removing the vessel”, which was required because of the changing condition of the wreck and to safeguard salvors and the local environment. TTB
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
50 | SALVAGE
Salvage recovery masks revenue issues for tug operators
M
arine salvage revenues are beginning to recover from the slump encountered in 2016. However, shipping companies and insurers are still pressurising tug operators to reduce their prices. According to the International Salvage Union (ISU)’s statistics, gross revenues for its members was US$456M in 2017, up 20% from US$380M in 2016. ISU president Charo Coll welcomed the rise in revenues and 2017 activity levels, but had a message of caution when the statistics were published in June. “The total revenue of US$456M was an increase on the previous year, but that is still more than 30% down from the US$717M of 2015,” she said. Revenues in this half of the decade have been much reduced compared to the first half. Total revenues in 2013 and 2014 were more than US$750M per annum, and more than US600M in each of 2011 and 2012. “The industry continues to be active, continues to invest and continues to be effective in helping to mitigate losses for shipowners and insurers, but, at the same time, ISU members are also experiencing financial hardship,” Ms Coll added. This is because fewer salvage projects are conducted on Lloyd’s Open Form (LOF) terms, and more on fixed contracts that favour
Salvage revenues are on the rise bolstered by wreck removal work, but profit margins have tightened as competition has increased the use of fixed contracts shipowners and insurers. “Competitive forces are making salvors undertake cases for lower returns,” said Ms Coll. “LOF revenue is much reduced and a contributing factor could be the increased use of side agreements.” It is ISU’s understanding that these agreements are used to reduce LOF awards and settlements for salvage projects. This is placing financial pressure on salvage companies to lower their prices at a time when tug operators are investing in new resources, including hardware and people. Ms Coll continues to encourage the shipping industry to support its professional salvage providers to prevent any reduction in its
capabilities to tackle maritime emergencies. “It is vital for world trade that there is a well-resourced and capable marine salvage industry available to save life, protect the environment and save property,” she said in a report. ISU splits revenues into dry salvage services which represent emergency response, and wreck removal. The number of dry salvage services in 2017 was 251, down from 306 operations in 2016, which was a 20-year high. Revenue from dry salvage was US$173M, of which US$54M (or 31%) was from LOF cases. This was the lowest amount since 1999 and continues the downward trend of LOF revenues, said Ms Coll. LOF was used in
“Forces of competition are making salvors undertake cases for lower returns”
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
18% of all dry salvage cases in 2017. The average revenue from each LOF case has fallen to US$1.6M in 2017 from US$3.9M the previous year. Ms Coll highlighted that this was compared to 70% of dry salvage income and 34% of cases in 2007, which confirms the continuing decline in the financial significance of LOF over the past 10 years. Revenues from SCOPIC* contract special compensation was US$20M, down from US$60M in 2016, and the lowest annual revenue for this contract class since SCOPIC was introduced in 1999. Income from dry salvage conducted under contracts other than LOF and SCOPIC in 2017 was US$119M, which is up 58% from US$75M in 2016, further reflecting the increasing use of fixed contracts. In contrast, revenue from removing wrecks during 2017 has risen to more than half of the ISU member revenues for the first time since 2013. Salvors worked on 120 wreck removal projects, which combined produced income of US$264M, or 58% of total revenue. This was also an increase from US$172M income in 2016. Ms Coll said wreck removal income has grown during the past decade and remains an important source of income for ISU members. This is partially due to the industry tackling large projects, such as the Costa
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SALVAGE | 51
TOTAL REVENUES US$456M 2017
DRY SALVAGE PROJECTS
DRY SALVAGE REVENUES
306 2016
US$173M 2017
2017 ISU MEMBER INCOME (US$ rounded)
2017
2016
Total revenues
456M
380M
Dry salvage
173M
150M
LOF
54M
75M
Average LOF
1.6M
3.9M
Non LOF SCOPIC
US$380M 2016
251 2017
US$150M 2016
WRECK REMOVAL JOBS
WRECK REMOVAL REVENUES
131 2016
US$264M 2017
11% 2016
120 2017
US$172M 2016
Concordia cruise ship and Sewol ferry wrecks. This is also due to more political pressure to remove historic wrecks and those that resulted from marine accidents in the last decade. Salvage companies saved
3.4M tonnes of pollution from being discharged into the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oceans in 2017, up from nearly 2.7M tonnes in 2016. This included 1.4M tonnes of bulk cargo and around 0.8M tonnes of crude oil that was
prevented from entering the sea from damaged ships.
18% 2017
*SCOPIC clause (Special Compensation P&I Club Clause) is an amendment to Lloyd's Open Form
75M
20M
60M
Wreck removal
264M
172M
Salvaged value
995M
845M
251
306
Dry salvage jobs % LOF
% LOF
119M
18
11
Wreck removal jobs
120
131
Pollution saved (tonnes)
3.4M
2.7M
and provides an alternative remuneration to salvors when the salved fund was insufficient to allow them to recover adequate payment under Article 13 of the Salvage Convention 1989.
Major 2017 salvage projects Removal of the wreck of passenger ferry Sewol was the biggest project in 2017, but the majority of vessel salvage was due to the damage to marinas in the Caribbean following devastating hurricanes in Q4 2017. Sewol was raised from the seabed off Jindo island, South Korea, in March 2017 and loaded on to semi-submersible heavylift vessel White Marlin. The 6,825 gt ferry was raised 40 m using a tandem lifting method designed by Shanghai Salvage. The ferry capsized on 16 April 2014 in South Korea with the death of more than 300 passengers. The wreck weighed more than 16,000 tonnes, due to water, stones and sand inside the ship and was one of the most complex salvage operations ever undertaken.
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In the Caribbean, salvors including Resolve Marine Group removed hundreds of damaged recreational craft, cargo boats, ferries and supply boats in the US and British Virgin Islands in the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria. Resolve was also involved in salvaging 56,597 dwt bulk carrier Cheshire when it was on fire off the Canary Islands in August 2017. Another major salvage project in 2017 involved refloating tanker Agia Zoni II, which sank on 10 September, near Salamina Island, causing a considerable oil spill. One of the longest running salvage projects this decade started in 2017 and continues this month. This is the salvage of Kea Trader, a container ship that grounded on a reef in New Caledonia in July 2017. TTB
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
52 | AUTOMATION & CONTROL
Competition intensifies Consortia led by Kotug and Rosetti Marino have demonstrated technology for remotely controlling tugs, rivalling Kongsberg and Rolls-Royce on the autonomous journey
Rolls-Royce and Svitzer continue to test remote control technology in Copenhagen harbour
REMOTE TUG CONTRIBUTORS Stakeholders involved in Kotug’s remote control tug demonstration project: Kotug: project management and commercial support. Alphatron: camera visualisation and system integration in the consoles. M2M Blue: stable data connection with VPN tunnel (4G and LAN connection combined). KPN: data SIM cards for stable 4G internet connection. OnBoard: conversion of the steering and engine control signal to internet protocol. Rotortug: owner of RT Borkum. Veth: steering and engine control system to take over from local console for remote control.
O
wners and operators have demonstrated how tugs can be remotely operated. Tests in June by two consortia proved technology will enable masters to control tugs from shore. Tug Technology & Business has followed the technical exploits of Svitzer, Rolls-Royce Marine and Lloyd’s Register in developing and testing remote control technology during 2017 and Q1 this year. The demonstrations were at the forefront of this new stream of automation and control technology and encouraged others to follow and test their own processes. Two other groups exhibited their remote control tug technology in June, with masters controlling vessels from control consoles connected via satellite and mobile phone networks to tug bridge systems. Kotug successfully tested this technology over more than 1,000 km using Tug Training & Consultancy (TTC)’s 15-m training Rotortug RT Borkum. A master used an Alphatron Marine integrated bridge simulator in the port of Marseille, France, to control the tug in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The captain took control of the tug via a secure internet link over a 4G connection and visualised operations on board RT Borkum using camera images. Both the tug’s bridge
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
systems and the simulator used for this technology demonstration were supplied by JRC’s Alphatron Marine. Kotug said demonstrations of remote control tugs are the first steps in developing remote control for other workboats and commercial ships, which could lead to the development of unmanned and autonomous shipping. This live demonstration will be followed up with more tests. Kotug is using a tug simulator in the Netherlands operated by its TTC affiliate to further test unmanned tasks. It said this technology could be used in collaboration with testing drone technology for connecting towlines between tugs and ships. Connectivity for the Marseille trial and other Kotug tests is provided by M2M Blue, which delivered a stable data connection with a virtual private network tunnel by combining local area network and 4G connection cellular networks. KPN provided the data SIM cards for the stable 4G internet connection. Master commands on the simulator are converted to protocols that can be transmitted over the internet, received on RT Borkum and converted to command controls. These are transferred through the vessel’s automation from the bridge console to the steering and engine controls using Veth’s technology. Information
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AUTOMATION & CONTROL | 53
on tug remote control is then fed back through the tug to the bridge consoles and over the 4G connectivity to the Alphatron simulator. Real-time sensor technology and video makes it possible to give the remote control captain the situational awareness needed for safe operation. Alphatron was responsible for camera visualisation and system integration in the consoles. Another demonstration of remote tug technology was carried out in Marseille in late June. Italian shipbuilder Rosetti Marino teamed up with Purple Water to demonstrate remote control of the Lloyd’s Register-certified 26-m double-ended tugboat, Giano. European tug operators trialled remote monitoring and control of this tug. Sensors and cameras on Giano were sent to the control console on shore over Telespazio’s satellite communications, using a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) and a 4G network. These connections used a secure machine-tomachine system that involved two internet tunnels over satellite and cellular networks. Shipowners from France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Italy tested the technology by manoeuvring Giano during these trials. This included Maersk affiliate Svitzer. Prior to this demonstration, Rosetti Marino tested remote control of Giano over more than 1,000 nautical miles of offshore sailing, manoeuvring it remotely from a shore console using machine-to-machine connections. Rosetti Marino expects this technology to be used for remotely operating tugs for safer escort and handling operations.
Commercial applications
Svitzer also sees commercial applications from remote control tug technology. It has considered pursuing an application where a tug is remotely sailed unmanned from one port to another, where a fully rested crew is waiting to go on board for shifts of towage and ship handling (Tug Technology & Business, Q2 2018). The Danish tug fleet owner continued testing technical elements that facilitate remote tug control using Rolls-Royce’s smart shipping technology and 2016-built harbour tug Svitzer Hermod. In July, Rolls-Royce sold its commercial marine unit that included this technology to Kongsberg for around US$650M. Once this sale
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has been completed, anticipated to be in Q1 2019, Kongsberg is expected to continue development of remote control techniques. Kongsberg could combine concepts RollsRoyce developed for autonomous tug operations with Kongsberg’s own technical developments being deployed on the world’s first autonomous commercial ship, Yara Birkeland. This is due to delivered next year and could be operated in a semi-autonomous mode in 2020.
Smart docking technology
Other manufacturers have made progress on remote control or autonomous vessel technology that has implications for tugs including smart docking for yachts and passenger ships. Wärtsilä is developing facilities for smart docking of passenger ships using its integrated navigation system (INS) sensors, dynamic positioning, distance and position measuring sensors, lasers and cameras. Wärtsilä product manager for navigation products Eberhard Maass said Smart Quay will be unveiled in September this year and could be applied to other vessel types. “We have produced a pilot of a device for measuring distances to piers using infrared and high-definition cameras,” he told Tug Technology & Business. “We are generating solutions for extended and augmented reality (ER/AR) and overlaying information on camera feeds,” Mr Maass continued, adding that this includes speed and distance information. “We are also testing LiDAR [light detection and ranging] technology and will be integrating these sensors into our NACOS Platinum [INS] with some type of augmented reality capability in the future.” Volvo Penta is developing self-docking technology for yachts and expects this to be launched in 2020. It tested this concept on a Volvo Ocean Race 65 yacht in Gothenburg, Sweden, in June. During this demonstration a 20-m yacht manoeuvred itself between two other similar-sized yachts in port. This involved an integrated propulsion system linking the helm station to the engine and propulsion, and an electronic vessel control unit which computes steering and drive calculations in relation to the vessel’s actual position and four sensors located on the intended berth. TTB
GIANO TUG DESIGN ELEMENTS 26 m x 13 m. Double-ended. Inline thrusters. Controllable pitch azimuthing thrusters. Two escort winches. Underwater fendering. High displacement tunnel hull. Two enginerooms. Ultra-short shaft lines. 55 tonnes bollard pull. Version available with 75 tonnes. UK flag, MCA workboat code. Lloyd’s Register class. FiFi1 fire-fighting system.
Bridge developments and merger unveiled JRC and Alphatron Marine have introduced a simplified design for bridge systems for vessels navigating inland waterways. They revealed a new version of AlphaBridge Inland in May. This was designed for vessels that need to lower the wheelhouse when passing under low bridges on rivers and canals. When this happens, control panels can be electronically shifted to a lower level and captains can operate consoles from a seated position without an impact on visibility. Navico has acquired rival Norwegian company C-Map and its electronic navigational chart distribution services. This will enable Navico to integrate C-Map services with its own ECDIS and radar products for workboats, leisure vessels and commercial ships, combining hardware, software, services and applications.
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
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PROPULSION | 55
Dual-fuel workboat engines revealed Wärtsilä has gained certification from the US Environmental Protection Agency for its dual-fuel engine, while Yanmar is manufacturing dual-fuel and Tier III engines for tugs
Wärtsilä was awarded EPA’s Tier 3 certification 34DF for both gas and diesel modes
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T
he US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has certified Wärtsilä’s 34DF engine as compliant with its Tier 3 emission limits. This covers cases whereby the engine is running on natural gas and in diesel mode with a Wärtsilä selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system. This is another milestone in engine development, as Wärtsilä was awarded EPA’s Tier 3 certification of emissions compliance for 34DF when operating in gas mode without an SCR system in 2017. 34DF engines have already been certified to meet IMO Tier III emissions requirements in both operating modes. EPA Tier 3 requirements set limits for nitrogen oxide (NOx) and hydrocarbon emissions as well as acceptable levels of particulate matter. Wärtsilä’s NOx reducer system, like other SCR systems, uses a catalyst to convert NOx into diatomic nitrogen and water. Tier 3 NOx requirements entered into force in 2016 for Category 3 engine sizes – engines with a cylinder displacement at or above 30 litres per cylinder – to be installed in US-flagged or registered vessels. The Wärtsilä 34DF engine is manufactured in configurations from six to 16 cylinders covering a power range of 2,880 – 8,000 kW for marine applications. Yanmar has manufactured IMO Tier III engines for tugs and workboats and has begun introducing dual-fuel four-stroke engines for
tugboat projects in Asia. The Japanese group’s Tier III engines emit 80% less NOx than Tier I by using a Yanmar SCR, which converts NOx into nitrogen gas and water by adding ammonia and oxygen, in this balanced chemical equation: 4NO + 4NH3 + O2= 4N2 + 6H2O Yanmar’s SCR uses a urea solution injector, an exhaust gas valve and a bypass of the catalyst chamber. For tugs, Yanmar produces the 6EY26W series of engines with Y26SCR 6L or 8L for Tier III compliance, said Yanmar diesel engine design director Yohei Kamata. This four-stroke diesel engine series has a power range of 1,471-1,920 kW. They have six cylinders with a cylinder bore of 260 mm, a piston stroke of 385 mm, a piston speed of 9.63 m/s and mean effective pressure of 1.92-2.5 MPa (Mega Pascals). There is also an eight-cylinder version, 8EY26W, with a power range of 2,060-2,560 kW for larger tug and workboat requirements. This has a similar cylinder bore, piston stroke and speed to the six cylinder version, but has a mean effective pressure of 2.02-2.5 MPa. Mr Kamata told Tug Technology & Business that the 6EY26W series would be best for tug operations because these are “compact and tough engines” with four strokes and high speed. “We have supplied tug [shipyards] in Singapore, China and Japan,” he said at the Posidonia exhibition in Athens, Greece, in June. “We are also supplying dual-fuel engines to tugs being built in Japan and Singapore,” said Mr Kamata. Yanmar’s dual-fuel engine uses diesel as a pilot and as a back-up to natural gas. The 6EY26DF engine has a shaft output of around 1,500 kW, while the 8EY26DF has about 2,050 kW, both at 750 rpm. Both types have cylinder bore of 260 mm, stroke of 385 mm and mean effective pressure of 2.0 MPa. When running on natural gas, Yanmar said these engines emit 80% less NOx, 99% less sulphur and particulate matter and 25% less CO2 than conventional diesel engines. TTB
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
56 | PROPULSION
Investment, acquisitions and innovations in thrusters Rolls-Royce invested US$58M in a new thruster factory, Schottel has modified its Rudderpropeller combi drives and Veth was acquired by Twin Disc, writes Ed Martin
W
ith work nearing completion on Rolls-Royce’s £44M (US$58M) expansion of its thruster facilities at Rauma in Finland, Rolls-Royce customer director for propulsion and engines Gary Nutter and site manager Olli Rantanen spoke to Tug Technology & Business about what the investment has brought to the site. Rolls-Royce has a strong heritage of providing thrusters for tugs, with the 10,000th of the azimuthing US-series thrusters brought into service. These are available in 12 sizes with a power range of up to 5,000 kW per unit. The company is planning to add an L-drive version of the US thruster to the range, and is also developing larger versions of the AZ PM permanent magnet azimuthing thruster range for the tug sector. One of the main aims of the Rauma Transformation project was to consolidate all Rolls-Royce operations at Rauma onto one site, said Mr Nutter. The project includes refurbishing the existing facilities, a newbuild area for thruster assembly and testing parts, with component manufacturing completely outsourced, said Mr Rantanen. “The scope [of the project] is mainly the building infrastructure and capital investment for equipment. That will be finalised by the end of this year,” he said, adding “when it is consolidated to one site, production is streamlined so we will get shorter lead times
Consolidating all work at Rauma on one site allow Tug Technology & Business |production 3rd Quarter 2018 Rolls-Royce to streamline
“We will get shorter lead times and better productivity”
and better productivity.” Azimuth thrusters have been built at Rauma since 1965, with the first model made partly from tractor parts. This is a far cry from the current output of the plant’s three assembly lines. Mr Nutter outlined each line’s production. The 40-tonne line is used to produce the US thrusters range, which are generally fitted to workboats and tugs and used for highbollard pull activities, Mr Nutter said, citing examples of contracts with Damen and Sanmar. The 80-tonne line will manufacture UUC thrusters, for use on larger vessels such as drilling rigs, semi-submersibles and thrusterpowered floating production, storage and offloading units. Mr Nutter noted that UUC thrusters are used “in some of the harshest environments in the North Sea.”
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PROPULSION | 57
The third assembly line is for large, retractable thrusters, used in harsh ice environments such as the Arctic. This line will have a height of 35 m and a hook height of 30 m to allow the largest thrusters to be tested, said Mr Nutter.
“We can potentially reduce build time and streamline the building process”
Orders and acquisition
Since the interview took place, it has been announced that Kongsberg will acquire Rolls-Royce’s commercial marine business, which includes the thruster division. When questioned on the possibility of a takeover during this interview, Mr Nutter said the thruster business had largely been unaffected by the possibility of the marine division being sold. Damen Shipyards installs Rolls-Royce thrusters on the majority of tugs it builds for its own stock and those for owners that order newbuildings. Rolls-Royce supplied thrusters for Damen’s new design for a harbour tug, reverse stern drive Innovation, and supplied Kotug Smit’s Buffalo azimuth tractor tug (Tug Technology & Business, Q2 2018). Turkish shipbuilder Sanmar Shipyards chose Rolls-Royce to supply propulsion and deck equipment for 21 tugboats being built for a range of customers. Rolls-Royce will supply 42 US205/255 azimuth thrusters with bollard pulls of 60, 70 and 80 tonnes, along with high-pressure hydraulic towing winches for the 80-tonne models. Sanmar’s framework agreement means standard-specification products will be supplied for all of the vessels across a two- to three-year period, rather than being delivered on a project-byproject basis. “The current orderbook for Sanmar tugs lends itself to this new procurement arrangement,” said Sanmar’s projects director Ali Gurun. “Rather than having to create a new supply agreement for each newbuild project, this new arrangement allows us to have a constant supply of Rolls-Royce equipment that we can adapt to meet our customers’ requirements. “This means we can potentially reduce build time and streamline the building process,” he said. Rolls-Royce has delivered 150 azimuth thrusters to Sanmar in a relationship that spans 15 years.
Schottel innovation
Schottel has modified the nozzle design for its range of SRP Rudderpropeller combi drives (SCD). These are electric-drive azimuthing thrusters that increase efficiency of propulsion while reducing fuel consumption. It has added ProAnodes on the outside of the nozzle to improve the amount of thrust these L-drives can generate, said Schottel senior sales manager Uwe Neddermeyer. “We put the anodes on the edge to improve flow from the propeller,” he explained to Tug Technology & Business. “There is then less disturbance in the flow and more efficiency of the nozzle.” ProAnode’s position improves corrosion protection and the lifecycle of the thruster. Moving the anodes from the outside surface of the nozzle into the cross-section of the nozzle tail lowers flow interference, saving fuel costs for tug operators. This also reduces the risk of these anodes being knocked off by flotsam, such as ice or plastic, protects the anodes from any grounding and prevents loss of anodes, which could increase the nozzle’s risk of corrosion. Anodes provide cathodic protection against corrosion for up to five years and their loss is often not
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discovered until a tug has its class survey. SCD thrusters come in the power spectrum from 1,850 kW to 4,200 kW, with propeller diameters ranging 2,600-3,600 mm. They are based on Schottel’s Rudderpropeller azimuthing thruster design for tugs and other workboats, with limited space for propulsion. Many commercially available thrusters house the electric motor in an underwater pod, but the SCD vertically integrates its motor into the support tube of the thruster inside the vessel. Schottel’s Singapore subsidiary, Schottel Far East, has relocated to new facilities in southwest Singapore. Incorporating a workshop with a 90-tonne lifting capacity, two 40-tonne cranes that can lift loads up to 9 m in height, and a crane with a lifting capacity of six tonnes, the facilities will be capable of servicing rudder propeller thrusters of up to 3,500 kW.
Newbuilding deliveries
Schottel has received multiple orders for its SRP series and supplied thrusters for new deliveries this year. It has supplied two SRP 4000 fixed propeller units for two tugs – Rosemary McAllister and Capt Brian A McAllister – for McAllister Towing’s US east coast operations. These 30.5 m tugs meet US Environmental Protection Agency’s Tier 4 and IMO Tier III requirements for emissions. This propulsion system manufacturer delivered SRP 1515 controllable pitch azimuth-drives for four tugs built by Triyards in Vietnam for Star Marine. The 34-m escort tugs were designed to operate in the Red Sea along the Saudi Arabia coast. Schottel also supplied fixed pitch nozzled Rudderpropellers for a series of six tugs built by Shipyard De Hoop this year for a consortium of companies manoeuvring barges across the Caspian Sea. They are transporting modules to the Tengiz oilfield in Kazakhstan. In another order, Schottel provided thrusters for a new harbour tug at the largest port in New Zealand’s South Island. Lyttelton Port Co has commissioned a Robert Allan RApport 2500 design tug from ASL Marine Shipyard Singapore to take over from an older vessel. This new tug will be equipped with two Schottel type SRP460 azimuth Rudderpropellers, each of which will have an input power of 2,240 kW. Peruvian tug operator Tramarsa chose Schottel in January to provide thrusters for a new escort and harbour tug, Lima, under construction at the Jiangsu Wuxi Shipyard in China. Lima will be fitted with two Schottel type SRO 490 FP azimuth Rudderpropellers, each of which has an input power of 2,240 kW and a bollard pull of around 78 tonnes. The tug will be a RAmparts 2400-W series model equipped with a FiFi1 fire-fighting system and will be classed by ABS for unrestricted navigation and towage. It is set for delivery in Q4 2018 and will be the third tug in Tramarsa’s Peruvian fleet, which operates at the port of Callao. TTB
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
58 | PROPULSION
Voith thrusters in RAVE Voith Turbo worked with naval architects at Robert Allan and Novatug to develop the Carrousel RAVE tug concept. Two of these have been constructed and brought into service for port operations in northern Europe. These are 32-m tugs with a rotating towing system combined with inline Voith Schneider propulsion for 360˚ manoeuvring. The inline propulsion allows the vessel to have a slender hull without affecting its stability. It also enables the towline force to be continuously controlled safely and precisely via Voith electronic controls in the wheelhouse. This propulsion generates up to 77 tonnes of bollard pull on Multratug 32 and Multratug 33. These were built by Damen Shipyards and classed by Bureau Veritas.
LEFT: The Carrousel RAVE design’s inline propulsion gives it a slender hull without affecting stability (credit: Novatug)
Veth acquired by Twin Disc Racine, Wisconsin-based power transmission firm Twin Disc has agreed to acquire Veth Propulsion for approximately US$58.6M plus net cash and potential adjustments based on Veth Propulsion’s working capital and performance. Twin Disc said it would finance this acquisition through a combination of cash and creating new debt facilities. There would be add-ons of up to US$3.9M, to be paid in Twin Disc common stock, if certain earn-out provisions are met. Twin Disc expects to complete this purchase in July 2018. Twin Disc chief executive officer and president John Batten said the acquisition will “strategically expand our global market and increases our size, scale, and scope within the marine industry”. He added that Veth Propulsion’s hybrid drive and integrated L-drive technology “will open new markets and opportunities for growth”. This year, Veth Propulsion is expected to achieve sales of US$60M. The two companies have worked together since December 2015, when Veth Propulsion selected Twin Disc as its distributor for selected Asian markets. This relationship was expanded in 2016 with a North American distribution partnership. Meanwhile, De Boer Remorquage SARL’s tug Papillon, delivered in January, is the first Damen-constructed tug to be fitted with Veth propulsion’s Z-drive thrusters. The tug, built to Damen’s ASD 2310 design, is fitted with two Veth VZ-1100A thrusters with a propeller diameter of 1,800 mm, fitted with a VOB50 nozzle. It is powered by a Mitsubishi S12R-MPTAW and has a bollard pull of 33.5 tonnes full ahead and 29.6 tonnes full astern. While Damen has looked to Veth since the 1980s to supply Z-drives, tunnel bow thrusters and generator sets for a range of vessel types, this is the first time a Z-drive has been delivered for an ASD tug, according to Veth general sales
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
manager Martin van der Jagt. Mr van der Jagt added that Veth has received an order for two VZ-1250A-VHD hybrid drives and a 200 kW tunnel bow thruster for a multipurpose tug/dredger, also being constructed by Damen for De Boer Remorquage. Veth is also supplying VZ-900 azimuthing stern thrusters for Abu Dhabi Marine Services (Safeen) in the UAE. Safeen purchased three tugs from Sanmar shipyard in Turkey in September 2017, and has so far taken delivery of two. At 18.7 m by 9.2 m these Yenicay-class tugs are compact and designed to provide high performance line and ship manoeuvring capabilities typical in smaller ports and harbours. They are based on Robert Allan’s RAscal 1800 design. Propulsion comes from two caterpillar C32 main engines, each generating 969 kW at 1,800 rpm.
PROPULSION SUPPLIED TO TUGS DELIVERED 1H 2018 Supplier Caterpillar
engines
propellers
35
#
Cummins
5
#
Mitsubishi
6
#
Rolls-Royce
14
25
Schottel
#
23
Wärtsilä
7
#
#
12
16
20
Other Unlisted
Source: Tug Technology & Business (# is none listed)
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PROPULSION | 59
First marine operations for Veth integrated L-drive LEFT: The first Veth integrated L-drives were installed on a utility vessel
Veth’s first integrated L-drive propulsion system has gone into service. This L-drive is part of a diesel-electric configuration that provides propulsion and vessel power. The first installation of an integrated L-drive is on a Damen Shipyards-built utility vessel operated by Remoy Management which completed sea trials at the end of April. Veth supplied a compact electric propulsion solution to Volt Processor, which uses 750 kW of electric power for propulsion, positioning and driving deck machinery. Integrated L-drives are suitable for other types of hybrid-powered workboats and tugs and could be used for dynamic positioning. A water-cooled permanent magnet motor is integrated in
the slewing bearing, said Veth general sales manager Martin van der Jagt. The mounting method, alignment of the headsets and adjustments to the control box make this integrated L-drive “extremely compact” he said. “The difference in height between a traditional L-drive and the integrated L-drive is about 2 m.” Mr van der Jagt said the integrated L-drive is more efficient in part load modes than other hybrid propulsion units because the permanent magnet motor is water cooled instead of air cooled. At 25% load, the improvement in efficiency with this motor is 5.2%. It also produces less noise than an air-cooled asynchronous motor. Veth’s integrated L-drive is available with power ranging from 300 kW to 2,350 kW.
ZF unveils retractable thrusters and hybrid transmission ZF Services revealed its latest propulsion range of thrusters and hybrid transmission systems for workboats in July including the ZF AT 3000 retractable thruster that can be used as an auxiliary propulsion system, for increasing speed and bollard pull or improving station keeping capabilities. Another development for ZF Services was the ZF 3300 transmission with a power take-in (PTI) as an alternate power source. This is the latest in hybrid-ready propulsion technology from ZF Services for workboats and leisure vessels. ZF 3300 PTI has a power range of up to 1,940 kW
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(2,600 hp) derived from a standard diesel engine input or a PTI power source, which means ZF 3300 PTI has the flexibility to be integrated into a wide variety of hybrid vessel propulsion solutions. So is ZF Services’ range of gearboxes that are widely used on tug newbuildings. Turkish shipbuilder Med Marine chose ZF 5355 gearboxes with 5,500:1 reduction ratio for a new design of tugs it will be building. Med Marine will use these gearboxes, along with Caterpillar C32 engines and 1,780 mm diameter propellers for RAscal 1800 series of twin screw tugs, after it signed an agreement to use Robert Allan
designs. These 18-m tugs will have a minimum of 30 tonnes of bollard pull and will be built for towing, pushing, mooring and fire-fighting duties. TTB
LEFT: ZF AT 3000 RT is a retractable thruster for auxiliary propulsion
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
60 | PROPULSION
Owners cut drydocking costs through propulsion monitoring Tug and offshore vessel operators can extend the lifecycle of thrusters using Wärtsilä’s condition monitoring services
Monitoring the condition of a Wärtsilä thruster can reduce its overhaul requirements
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ondition monitoring can extend the from five years “to a maximum of 10 years, life of thrusters and reduce the risk of based upon the actual status of the thrusters.” failures, which is vital for operators and This is because tug operators would be managers of tugs and offshore vessels. Analysis informed of faults “well before they lead to of performance data enables engineers to identify breakdowns” and “conditions that generate NIIGATA_AD condition issues, predict the timing of failures and excess wear on the equipment can be avoided.” extend the period between overhauls. “As a result of all this, a conditionThis lowers operating costs for owners monitoring service reduces the total cost and reduces the amount of drydocking visits of ownership and maximises profitability for workboats and vessels, throughout the lifecycle of the explained Wärtsilä’s manager of vessel,” said Mr van Loenhout. the condition-based monitoring These expectations will be CBM Centre Propulsion, Stefan tested during the contract with “Condition van Loenhout. Transocean, which will involve Wärtsilä secured its first service engineers analysing monitoring customer for an advanced the data to determine when reduces the total performance-based service thrusters will need servicing in a agreement when it signed drydock. Engineers will produce cost of ownership a deal with drilling rig and flexible maintenance schedules and maximises ship operator Transocean, for each piece of equipment profitability announced in July. Together based on the actual condition of they intend to optimise the the device. throughout the maintenance of Wärtsilä Other engineroom machinery lifecycle of the vessel” can be monitored in a similar thrusters installed within Transocean’s fleet of method to thrusters with deepwater drilling systems, comparable results, if the using Wärtsilä propulsion needed data is available and condition monitoring service (PCMS), which accessible. “This reduces the lifecycle costs of collects performance data from the thrusters and equipment and enhances profitability,” said Mr delivers it to Wärtsilä’s CBM Centre for analysis. van Loenhout. “And prevents unscheduled events Mr van Loenhout thinks this type of before they happen.” agreement can be used by owners of tugs Wärtsilä’s propulsion condition monitoring and offshore support vessels to improve the service combines sensory data such as vibration, reliability of thrusters. pressure and temperature with the operational PCMS provides “real-time advice and parameters of the propulsion equipment, such periodic reports concerning the condition as pitch, steering feedback and set points. of the machinery,” he told Tug Technology In addition, it takes into consideration the & Business. This leads to “more availability nautical parameters, such as vessel speed, than could be realised through conventional rate of turn and draught, “thereby giving the planned maintenance.” customer the unique ability to accurately relate Through condition monitoring, owners sensory data to the actual operating conditions,” can base their “operational decisions on the said Mr van Loenhout. actual condition of the equipment and assess The system has been developed to risks based on the projected reliability of the detect the operational state of the propulsion propulsion equipment.” equipment through real-time comparisons Vessel operators can perform overhauls only of parameters from multiple sources. Data is when they are actually needed instead of doing captured and sent over the vessel’s satellite them periodically. Mr van Loenhout said owners communications or links to a 3G or 4G mobile can extend the time between thruster overhauls network if close enough to shore. TTB
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
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62 | TRAINING & SIMULATION
Improving tug master skills through simulation Owners can save 20-40% of fuel and increase safety by improving tug masters’ skills and competence through simulator training
“Simulators enable more progressive training and professional development”
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imulators are used to teach tug masters how to operate their vessels more effectively and safely and to practise ship manoeuvring in new terminals. Simulators can save lives at sea, prevent tug-related accidents and reduce fuel costs for owners, said head of Transas at Wärtsilä Voyage Solutions, Frank Coles. Masters can practice tug operations, learn how to use thruster controls and navigation systems on bridges and manage the crew in a safe environment. “Simulation removes danger and allows trainees to practise scenarios,” Mr Coles told Tug Technology & Business. By practising operations, tug masters can improve their manoeuvring skills and enhance their competence, resulting in fuel savings for the tug owner. “If masters go through a twoweek simulator-based course, they could reduce fuel on the tug they operate on by 20-40% because they learn how to drive tugs better and safer,” said Mr Coles. Simulator training is also a green technology, as there are no emissions compared with allowing a tug master to practise these skills on a vessel in real-life. “They are good for running exercises and measuring improvements in a structured environment,” Mr Coles explained. “Simulators enable more progressive training and professional development.” Transas, acquired by Wärtsilä in May this year, supplies full mission tugboat simulators with 360˚ of visualisation that, as TTB has witnessed, emulates the real world effectively in high definition. This is achieved with floor to ceiling screens in a full circle around an accurate copy of a real master’s chair on a tug. Instructors can use these simulators to replay and revise previous “accidents and incidents time and again, so it is drilled-in and impregnated” said Mr Coles, adding that “it then becomes second nature to do the right thing.” Transas focuses on improving the fidelity of real-life experiences on its advanced tug simulators by improving the definition and software. Mr Coles said it involves refinements “in algorithms and mathematic models” and including additional data from tugboat technical specifications. Transas engineers go on board
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
Frank Coles (Wärtsilä): “Simulation removes dangers and allows trainees to practise scenarios”
tugs to take measurements for the digital model. “Then we fine-tune the simulation until masters can tell us it is close to the real thing.” An additional step in producing the simulation program is to add environmental information, such as weather, ocean conditions, tides and currents. Port infrastructure would also be included depending on which coastal areas tug masters expect to be operating in. TTB has previously used a Transas full mission simulator to operate a tug around the port of Southampton in different weather and sea conditions. Sound can also be added to the programs. “Then we are at a point that it is fairly close to the real thing,” said Mr Coles. Transas has added ice conditions and is developing polar water training courses for tugs, offshore vessels and for dynamic positioning training.
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TRAINING & SIMULATION | 63
Simulation in reality
Tug Training & Consultancy (TTC) collaborates with Transas and other simulator providers Kongsberg, VStep and Force Technologies to train tug masters. It runs a training facility in Rotterdam harbour in the Netherlands and provides consultancy worldwide. It offers courses in basic tug handling, harbour towage, advanced harbour operations and escort towage using a blend of classroom courses, simulator practice and teaching trainees on a 15 m tug, RT Borkum, that is used purely for training. TTC has taught more than 300 captains and other officers on tug-related courses, helping to increase tug masters’ skill levels, optimise port infrastructure and enable masters of other vessel types and pilots to get a better understanding of co-operating with tugs. In June, TTC gained ISO 9001 certification from Lloyd’s Register (LR), which demonstrates it delivers high quality training to meet the required standards for safe towing and responsible nautical activities, said a TTC spokeswoman. TTC is planning to present a safety solution to LR’s Safety Accelerator programme this year, she added. The classification society launched the programme in June as a challenge to find innovative solutions to improve human safety on board ships. TTC will present its technology for detecting and navigating around gas vapour clouds. This could be a requirement for tug crews tackling a marine casualty involving a gas-fuelled ship with LNG tanks. The TTC spokeswoman said it had developed a solution for detecting gas vapour clouds for tug operator Kotug, which manages tugs around Shell’s offshore floating LNG production plant, Prelude.
Practising operations
Kotug’s KT Maritime Services’ tug crews and those of PACC Offshore Services Holdings trained on HR Wallingford simulators to practise operations in preparation for working on Shell’s Prelude floating LNG production project. They used simulators at the Australia Ship Simulation Centre in Fremantle to practise towing the Prelude LNG production unit and berthing LNG, LPG and condensate offtake tankers that will moor alongside Prelude. Fremantle simulators were also used to evaluate marine support for the second loading jetty at the Tangguh LNG export terminal in Indonesia’s West Papua province. Local pilots and tug masters practiced ship escort manoeuvring and final approaches to the new jetty in the virtual world. Programmers simulated terminal operations with up to four 55-bollard pull tugs in real-time and channel escort operations in fast-time simulation. The new jetty is expected to open in 2020 to treble LNG exports from the centre. HR Wallingford’s simulator technology was
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used in the UK for training tug captains and pilots of Dublin Port. They used the UK Ship Simulation Centre to prepare for the arrival of the world’s largest shortsea roro cargo ship, Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Navigation's Celine, christened in April. Ship captains and pilots used the full mission navigation simulator alongside tug masters using tugboat simulators to determine how the ship would handle in comparison to other large roro ships. Simulators were used to identify the limits the new vessel could be manoeuvred safely within Dublin Port, where it would pass adjacent berths with other large moored ships.
“We fine-tune the simulation until masters can tell us it is close to the real thing”
Portable technology
VStep unveiled a portable tug simulator in June after it co-ordinated its development with Dutch tug simulator training centre 360-Control. VStep minimised the hardware needed to run its Nautis and RescueSim products by optimising the software and created a method of packing this into three flight cases. Training becomes more convenient with a portable unit and allows tug simulators to be leased instead of being purchased. 360-Control will use this portable simulator to train tug masters prior to their deployment on a vessel. There are benefits for seafarers and tug owners from this method of training, said 360-Control senior instructor Cor de Ridder. “The biggest benefit of going to the customer is that after the trainees receive their virtual training on the simulator, they can step on over to their own tug,” he said. “This allows them to rapidly apply the simulator lessons in a real-life environment.” There are cost savings and operational benefits as crew would be available for normal port operations instead of having to be accommodated at an academy. TTB
Trainees can use the bridge of training tug RT Borkum run by TTC in Rotterdam
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
64 | DIGITALISATION
Tide is turning for tugboat fleet digitalisation Workboat owners are witnessing improvements in fleet management, maintenance and fuel savings when deploying digitalisation technology
T Martin Wallgren (GAC): Data can be transferred over the local mobile phone 3G or 4G networks
“We need to find a way to store data on board and then send the data as packages when these vessels are close to shore”
owage management can be improved using digitalisation technology on workboats, including tugs. Implementing fleet management software has reduced maintenance and compliance costs for owners. Foss Maritime deployed Helm Operations’ software Helm Connect as a centralised fleet management platform in June to streamline its operations and those of wholly owned subsidiaries along the US west coast, in Hawaii and Alaska. The platform will be used to centralise vessel dispatching, billing, maintenance, compliance and personnel management. One module in Helm Connect will enable Foss to monitor and track assets in the fleet of more than 200 workboats, said Foss chief operating officer Scott Merritt. “Helm Connect tools help drive our commitment to incident-free operations and continuous improvement in every facet of our services. The personnel module will enhance the scheduling and payroll process for the over 800 Foss mariners,” said Mr Merritt. GAC intends to deploy an integrated digital platform across its fleet of workboats and towage tugs to improve fuel efficiency and operations. It will install an internet of things (IoT) platform across the fleet, which will be a challenge, said GAC group chief information officer Martin Wallgren. He told Tug Technology & Business that this IoT platform would be used for “calculating engine performance and measuring fuel consumption.” Data from onboard sensors can be analysed to reduce bunker and maintenance costs, he said. Data will be transferred from vessels to be analysed by shore managers, and remain on board for vessel masters, said Mr Wallgren. “We are investigating what to measure and what we
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
need to maintain, and we will need a platform for analytics,” he said. When vessels are operating close to shore, data can be transferred over the local mobile phone 3G or 4G networks, “but handling data over these is tough,” said Mr Wallgren. When vessels operate outside of this coverage, data transmissions would be over satellites. However, there is not enough space on board some of GAC’s vessels to install the antennas needed for high-bandwidth satellite communications. “There is less communications capacity for large volumes of data transmissions,” said Mr Wallgren. “So, we need to find a way to store data on board and then send the data as packages when these vessels are close to shore.” Thailand-headquartered tug owner SC Group has tackled the communications challenge by working with satellite operator Thaicom, leading to an investment in satellite communications and an integrated fleet management system. SC Group is installing Thaicom’s Nava VSAT on more than 30 towage and escort tugs, from a total fleet of 70 tugboats of all sizes, to enhance fleet operations and optimise operational efficiency. Communications and data transmissions will be integrated with Thaicom’s Nava Connect fleet administration service. Thaicom’s maritime broadband platform was launched in February this year with C-band and Ku-band coverage around southern Asia's seas and parts of the Indian Ocean. SC Group's fleet operates in southeast Asian ports providing towing, docking and undocking of vessels, navigating, marine emergency rescue and oil spill clean-up. Norway-based fleet operator Wilson Ship Management has adopted Transas services for vessel performance monitoring, improving navigational safety and enhancing efficiency. Transas, a subsidiary of Wärtsilä, is providing fleet operations programs and machinelearning techniques that Wilson expects will improve situational awareness for both crew and shore managers. These services include obtaining fleet data from shore-based locations, onboard navigational and communication components, e-learning courses and a portfolio of decision support tools developed by Transas. TTB
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66 | DECK MACHINERY
New electric and hydraulic winches enhance escort operations JonRie is installing its first hydraulic Tri-Winch on tugs and Rolls-Royce has unveiled a lightweight winch with a permanent magnet electrical motor
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onRie InterTech’s new Tri-Winch was first installed on tugs in 2017 for escort operations over the bow or from the stern. These new units were installed on three Rotortug vessels – Trident, Triton and Trinity – for Seabulk Towing. These 33-m tugs were built by Master Boat Builders of Bayou La Batre, Alabama, to a Robert Allan ART 80-98US design. They have a bollard pull of 78 tonnes provided by a set of Caterpillar 3512C diesel engines, JonRie’s winches and serve Port Everglades, Florida. Tri-Winch was designed for escort operations fore and aft, and long-line towing over the stern, said JonRie InterTech president Brandon Durar. He pointed out that new features include honeycombed drums and dual-power units allowing the winches to
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
be operated independently from vessel power. Other features include its dual-foot control “to allow for handsfree operation of each winch, press-down to payout and heal-back to haul-in,” said Mr Durar. Unique to Tri-Winch are its three winches and its drives, “which are all independent and direct for each drum from the gypsy to the level wind,” he explained.
Safe operations
All operations can be conducted from the wheelhouse and “are safe operations as no one is needed on deck for each operation once the lines are hooked up.” These winches also have JonRie’s own tension display for each drum, which has sidelights and dimming for night use. Tri-Winch hawser winch drums have the capacity to spool 165 m of 20.3 cm hawser, a line speed of 35 m/min and a brake capacity of 300 tonnes. Its “direct drive design allows for a quick response to fast loading inertia that an escort winch must endure,” said Mr Durar. Its towing drum has the capacity to spool 700 m of 58 mm line. The dual hydraulic power units can be cross-connected to run one
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DECK MACHINERY | 67
winch at a faster line speed and for independent operation of both bow and stern drums. Mr Durar said these winches were suited for Seabulk’s Rotortug fleet because they could be controlled hands-free from the pilothouse by a master with a clear line of sight across the deck. He is a proponent of hydraulics for driving winches, as he thinks they are “suited for today's tugs with respect to reliability”. He also said that tugs are designed with solutions to ensure hydraulic fluids are unable to enter the environment. All JonRie designs use a direct-drive Hagglunds hydraulic motor “which has a very low moment of inertia” said Mr Durar “when the motor is being overhauled it can take the extreme forces of the tug.” This makes these drives “very well suited for render and recover features, controlled freewheel modes and paying out line under load.” JonRie is currently working on a design with a direct-drive level wind using the same technology.
with a 690 V alternating current power supply. If a tug operator needs higher motor speeds, XT70 PM can operate an overspeed of 170 rpm, close to three times its nominal rating with a third of the torque, Mr Nilsen explained to Tug Technology & Business. It has a low gear ratio, which provides less gear losses and better dynamic performance of the winch. The PM motor can also provide regenerative power back to the ship’s switchboard, if the vessel is so equipped. Mr Nilsen said this feature makes it suited for a tug with a hybrid power system. He thinks this equipment, as well as other hydraulic- and electric-driven winches in the Rolls-Royce portfolio, would be suitable for icebreakers operating in Arctic conditions. XT70 PM is also suitable for emergency towing operation, coastal towage or to be installed on multipurpose vessels. It was developed in 2016 when Rolls-Royce secured a contract with US tug owner Edison Chouest to supply towing winches plus auxiliary winches, all based on lowpressure hydraulics.
Rolls-Royce PM technology
Electric drives
Rolls-Royce Marine has introduced a new lightweight winch driven by a permanent magnet (PM) electrical motor for tug towage. This XT70 PM escort, render and recovery towing winch provides enough pull for most oceangoing and harbour duties without the risk of oil leaks from a hydraulic drive. XT70 PM was added to the portfolio of towing and escort winches developed specifically for tug operations this year. It can deliver up to 75-tonnes pull on the first layer at 36 m/min, said Rolls-Royce Marine vice president of sales for deck machinery Kjetil Nilsen. Its motor has a nominal speed of 65 rpm and a nominal torque of 70 kNm. But it can operate with a nominal speed of 100 rpm
Mr Nilsen said this contract made the deck machinery team at RollsRoyce consider “how winch systems for the tug market could benefit from using low-pressure hydraulics, but also if an electro engine would benefit tug operators and their crews”. PM driven electric motors compare well with hydraulic systems and offer high torque and dynamic performance and environmental benefits, he said. Rolls-Royce had already developed PM technology for propulsion systems, mainly tunnel and azimuthing thrusters, and used this experience to develop a PM motor for winches to mirror the performance of low-pressure hydraulic motors. In 2016, Rolls-Royce introduced the XT140 PM winch for fishing vessels and this experience was also used to develop the XT70 PM winch. As of July this year, 10 XT140 PM winches are installed on fishing vessels and 15 more trawl winches of this type are on order. “A highly efficient electro motor reduces the risk of pollution from an oil spill,” said Mr Nilsen. Its improved efficiency “reduces the overall fuel consumption of the vessel, and the winch is designed to reduce installation and maintenance costs.”
Edison Chouest tug newbuilding order
LEFT: JonRie’s Tri-Winch was installed on Seabulk's Rotortug Trident in 2017 ABOVE: Rolls-Royce XT70 winch delivers up to 75 tonnes of pull at 36 m/min
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Edison Chouest ordered 13 oceangoing heavy-duty mooring assistance and escort tugs from Damen Shipyards in October 2016. Nine of these are azimuth stern drive (ASD) tugs built to operate in Alaska where Edison Chouest started providing ship escort and response duties out of Valdez and Prince William Sound in July 2018. Four other ASD tugs will support LNG carriers at a Corpus Christi-based LNG export terminal in Texas. Rolls-Royce equipped the five largest ASD 4517 escort tugs, which have bollard pulls up to 150 tonnes for operations in Alaska, with winches capable of dynamic towing in the full bollard pull range. This was instead of towing on static brake, which is more common for these types of vessels. This dynamic towing capability of the low-pressure hydraulicwinches reduces wear and tear on the tow gear. TTB
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
68 | PROJECT TOWAGE
Workboat fleet delivered for Gazprom gas project
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fleet of new tugboats, workboats and pontoons have started supporting Gazprom’s Amur gas processing plant project in the Russian Far East. The workboats were built by Damen Shipyards and transported from the Netherlands to the Russian Far East on an SAL Heavy Lift ship. Damen produced eight workboats including four pusher tugs and four multicat vessels for this project. They were loaded on to SAL’s Type 161B vessel Annette in Waalhaven, in the Port of Rotterdam in April and transported through the Mediterranean and Suez Canal, across the Indian Ocean to Singapore and then to the Russian port of De-Kastri on the Sea of Okhotsk, where they arrived at the beginning of May. The eight vessels were delivered to AAS Amur Assets Shipping, a joint venture set up by Combi Lift to support Gazprom’s gas project. They were designed to cope with the extremely low water levels in the Amur and Zeya rivers with the pusher tugs having a draught of around 1.45 m and the multicats of 0.85 m. During the heavy lift, the engineering planning – including stowage planning, rigging
arrangement, lifting plans, cribbing plans and sea fastening calculations – was performed by Combi Lift in close co-operation with SAL. Each tug was stowed on the deck of Annette with an overhang of up to 2.6 m each side. Also during April, Damen completed seven 89 m pontoons and four 86 m side floaters at a facility in China for this project. They were transported from Shanghai to De-Kastri where they also arrived at the start of May. These have been customised for navigation in shallow inland waters. Stan pontoons were designed to reduce their weight and draught, while the side floaters provide extra lateral ballastable buoyancy to the pontoons, which is required in sections of the Zeya River where water is shallower than in the Amur River. Combi Lift is responsible for transporting around 176,000 tonnes of equipment and material for the Amur gas processing plant including sizeable components, such as 12 columns weighing 900 tonnes each. These will be transported on the pontoons while being pushed by the Damen-designed tugs. Gazprom contracted Linde Group to
Damen Shipyards built four pusher tugs, four multicats and a series of pontoons for Gazprom’s Amur gas processing plant project in Far East Russia
Damen’s tugs were designed with raised wheelhouses to push pontoons loaded with Linde heavy cargo (credit: Damen)
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
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Combi Lift’s pusher tugs have a top speed of 9.5 knots from three Caterpillar C12 TA B engines (credit: Damen)
PROJECT TOWAGE | 69
PUSHER TUG PARTICULARS: De-Kastri, Nikolaevsk-onAmur, Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Khabarovsk Owner: AAS Amur Assets Shipping Builder: Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld Operates: Eastern Russia
construct the gas processing plant, and it in turn contracted Combi Lift as its logistics partner for oversized and heavy cargo transportation. Damen sales manager Remko Bouma said it gained the contract for the tugs, workboats and pontoons in June 2017. “We had just 10 months to construct the vessels but, through good project management and close co-operation between Damen and Combi Lift, the result has been highly satisfactory for all parties and we were able to find the necessary solutions,” he said.
Pusher tug design
Damen built the four tugs, De-Kastri, Nikolaevskon-Amur, Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Khabarovsk, to its own pusher tug 2612 SD design at the Hardinxveld shipyard. They are classed jointly by Bureau Veritas and the Russian Register of Shipping for pushing, towing, supply and inland water services. They have an overall length of 24.9 m and moulded beam of 11.9 m, the depth at the sides of the hull is 2.7 m and their displacement is 325 gt. Damen explained the bollard pull of these tugs is around 13.5 tonnes. They have a top speed of 9.5 knots, delivered using three Caterpillarsupplied main engines that drive three fixedpitch propellers. The three Caterpillar C12 TA B engines have a combined power of 861 kW at 1,800 rpm and are linked to Reintjes WAF 244L 3.952 gearboxes. The propellers have a diameter of 1,100 mm and Giessen Optima nozzles. Auxiliary power comes from two Caterpillar C04.4 TA generator sets, each producing 86 kVA at 50Hz and 230/400 V alternating current. These tugs also each have an Alfa Laval MIB 303 fuel oil separator and 42 m3 capacity fuel tanks. Other tanks can hold 65.7 m3 of fresh water, 18.3 m3 of sewage and 3.3 m3 of bilge water. Damen installed machinery on the pusher tug decks including winches from C-Nautical and a Mampeay towing hook with a quick release. C-Nautical supplied four coupling winches each with 65 tonnes of brake power and electrically driven anchor winches on the bow and stern. Accommodation on the pusher tugs was designed for operating in cold climates. It includes heated living spaces for nine people, with three single cabins and three double crew cabins.
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Wheelhouse technology
Design: Pusher tug 2612 SD
Tug wheelhouses were built to be raised to ensure masters have clear views over the extralarge cargoes on the pontoons. On the bridge, Furuno supplied its FAR-2117 radar, FE-800 echosounder and BR-500 watch alarm, while Navico provided Simrad AP-70 autopilots. Each tug has a Cassens & Plath Reflecta 1 compass and Skipper EML224 speedlog. Cobham Satcom supplied Sailor VHF radio and Inmarsat-C, while there are three Granit VHF radios on board. Automatic identification system equipment is Samyung SI-30AR and global positioning uses a Samyung SGN-500. There are also two Pesch 1000 W searchlights and a Phontech CIS 3000 intercom. Safety devices include a Jotron Tron-60S emergency position-indicating radiobeacon and a Jotron Tron SART 20 search and rescue transponder.
Multicat performance
Damen also built workboats Blagoveshchensk, Chernigovka, Novopetrovka and Svobodny at its Hardinxveld yard to a Multicat 2608 SD design classed by Bureau Veritas and Russian Register of Shipping. These were built for pontoon pushing, towage and inland water services with an overall length of 25.9 m and moulded beam of 8.5 m. The multicats can access shallower sections of the rivers than the pusher tugs as they have a draught of 0.85 m and displacement of 145 gt. They have a bollard pull of 8 tonnes and maximum speed of 9 knots derived from two Caterpillar C12 TA B engines that combined develop 574 kW of power at 1,800 rpm driving two fixed-pitch 1 m diameter propellers with Giessen Optima nozzles. The multicats have similar fuel oil separators, gearboxes and deck equipment to the pusher tugs. However, they have two Caterpillar C-04.4 NA gensets that each produces 47.5 kVA at 50Hz. They have less fuel and water storage capacity than the tugs, being able to store 20.2 m3 of fuel and 5.5 m3 of fresh water. Each vessel has heated accommodation for four people and similar bridge equipment to the pusher tugs. TTB
Length oa: 25.9 m Beam, moulded: 8.5 m Draught: 1.45 m Displacement: 325 tonnes Bollard pull: 13.5 tonnes Top speed: 9.5 knots Main engines: 3 x Caterpillar C12 TA B Propellers: 3 x 1,100 mm with Giessen Optima nozzles Gensets: 2 x Caterpillar C04.4 TA Fuel tank: 42 m3 capacity Fresh water: 65.7 m3 capacity
MULTICAT PARTICULARS: Blagoveshchensk, Chernigovka, Novopetrovka and Svobodny Owner: AAS Amur Assets Shipping Builder: Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld Operates: Far East Russia Design: Multicat 2608 SD Length oa: 24.9 m Beam, moulded: 11.9 m Draught: 0.85 m Displacement: 145 gt Bollard pull: 8 tonnes Top speed: 9 knots Main engines: 2 x Caterpillar C12 TA B Propellers: 2 x 1 m with Giessen Optima nozzles Gensets: 2 x Caterpillar C04.4 NA Fuel tank: 20.2 m3 capacity Fresh water: 5.5 m3 capacity
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
70 | PROJECT TOWAGE
Tugs handle UK’s largest ship construction project Tugs were essential elements to the construction of one of Europe’s most advanced research ships. Kotug Smit Towage assisted in the towing of research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough, which was the largest non-naval ship construction project in the UK for 30 years. Four of its tugs were employed to transfer this 129 m, 10,000-tonne hull from drydock to the wet basin at Cammell Laird’s construction facilities near Liverpool in July. Kotug Smit tugs Smit Barbados, Smit Waterloo, Smit Belgie and Smit Sandon manoeuvred this hull on the River Mersey as the UK’s largest ongoing ship construction projects sailed past this launch milestone. A key element of this manoeuvring project was the pre-operations organisation and safety meetings, said Kotug Smit Towage UK general manager Phil Dulson. “A smooth co-operation between all teams involved contributed to the successful and safe launching of the RRS Sir David Attenborough,” he explained. Everyone involved had an overview of the required operational preparations and procedures. These meetings outlined responsibilities, communications expectations and
Kotug Smit tugs towed RRS Sir David Attenborough down the River Mersey
nautical restrictions. There were also special preparations of towing equipment, said Kotug Smit towage operator in Liverpool Paul Murphy. “Prior to the launching operation, we made special ropes and calculated the lengths for a safe execution and secured the lines at the stern of the hull,” he explained. RRS Sir David Attenborough is being built as a polar research ship that is scheduled to come into
operation in 2019. It was commissioned by the Natural Environment Research Council, which is part of UK Research and Innovation. It is being built by Cammell Laird and will be operated by British Antarctic Survey. This is the biggest shipbuilding contract in Britain for 30 years. It is expected that the ship will conduct research to help tackle the environmental challenges, including climate change and protecting the oceans.
Tug starts construction of US$2.3Bn Mediterranean project A powerful tug is helping the Principality of Monaco to extend its landmass in a US$2.3Bn project. Boluda France has started towing and installing concrete caissons for this huge expansion project that will add 15 acres of land to one of the world’s smallest and richest countries. Monaco’s Portier Cove expansion is one of the Mediterranean’s most expensive projects and will create land for 1,000 luxury appartments. French construction company Bouygues is building the coastal extension with 18 concrete caissons constructed in Marseille, France, that will act as a protective sea wall. These will be towed to Monaco for installation by Boluda France’s oceangoing and 2008-built tug VB Fos, which has 90 tonnes of bollard pull and is chartered for this immense engineering project. Boluda France said the first of these concrete caissons was installed on 22 July. It was awarded the transport contract of this challenging project by Eiffage Genie Civil Marine. According to Boluda France chief executive Denis
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
Monserand, VB Fos was acquired specifically for these types of projects. “We needed a tug dedicated to deepsea towing and project towing,” he said. VB Fos has a free running speed of 14.6 knots and total power of 4,914 kW that comes from two diesel engines. This 36 m long tug has an overall beam of 13 m and draught of 4.66 m. It is used for towing, escorting, docking and has equipment for fire-fighting. Its owner is a subsidiary of Boluda Corporacion Maritima, which is the second largest towage operator worldwide. Boluda France operates a fleet of 75 tugs and 30 service vessels in 15 harbours and terminals in France, Africa and the Indian Ocean. In May, Boluda France ordered a new series of harbour and terminal tugs from Piriou shipyard in Vietnam for its French operations. Once the concrete caisson is installed and the rest of the seawall is built, the area will be back-filled with sand. This platform work on the Portier Cove expansion is expected to be completed in 2020 and the new district opened in 2025. TTB
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72 | TECHNOLOGY BRIEFING
Keel coolers eliminate silt, sand and seawater RW Fernstrum & Co’s Gridcooler closed-circuit cooling system removes the need for an onboard heat exchanger, raw water pumps, strainers and seawater piping
“We consider the design parameters of the vessel, the operating conditions, and equipment requirements”
R
W Fernstrum & Co has adapted its range of engine cooling systems for workboats, including tugboats and pusher vessels. It supplies closedcircuit cooling systems for all types of vessels, eliminating the need for many other machinery elements in an engineroom. Using a closed-circuit cooling system saves space in a workboat for other operational equipment. It also minimises the risk of silt and sand from building up in the cooling circuit and protects the system from salt water corrosion. RW Fernstrum & Co export sales manager Dale Gusick explained the benefits and application to Tug Technology & Business. He said its Gridcooler keel cooling system is engineered to meet the performance requirements of the vessel’s equipment and operating conditions. “Sizing a keel cooler for a particular application is critical,” he said. “In the demanding world of tugs and shallow draft pushers, a properly sized Gridcooler keel cooler and/or WEKA Boxcooler will allow a vessel to reach its full working potential.” Gridcooler is mounted externally on the vessel’s hull below the waterline. Engine coolant is circulated through the keel cooler, which transfers heat from the coolant before it returns to the engine. A closed-circuit cooling system has distinct advantages when compared to an open-circuit cooling system. It eliminates the need for an onboard heat exchanger, raw water pumps, strainers and seawater piping. It does not have the high maintenance associated with open circuit cooling systems, said Mr Gusick. The use of a keel cooler eliminates the need for seawater to enter the hull. “From an environmentally friendly perspective, keel cooling provides a zerodischarge solution eliminating the possibility of contaminants entering the seawater,” he said. Gridcooler keel cooler was originally developed for the US Navy’s landing craft during World War II. RW Fernstrum & Co has been engineering and manufacturing them for the commercial marine industry since 1949. Much
Tug Technology & Business | 3rd Quarter 2018
A Gridcooler was specifically engineered then installed on a tug in the US
has changed in its design as these have evolved over the years into a line of keel coolers that offer nearly limitless variations. “When a cooling system is engineered, we consider the design parameters of the vessel, the operating conditions and equipment requirements,” said Mr Gusick. Keel coolers are now primarily engineered to cool propulsion engines, auxiliary systems, bow thrusters and generator sets. RW Fernstrum & Co president Sean Fernstrum said the company works with ship designers, builders and owners to meet the unique needs of each vessel. “The standard, off-the-shelf solutions are not always the best fit,” he said, adding that the company has the “ability to develop new solutions for vessels as their design evolves to meet changing environmental needs”. RW Fernstrum & Co received certification ISO 9001:2015 from the International Organization for Standardization in May this year. This followed an audit conducted by Verisys Registrars, also in May. The scope of this registration included the engineering, design, manufacturing and sales of heat exchangers for marine and industrial applications. TTB
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