Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was informed in late October of this year that the new Gwadar Port would be completed ahead of schedule with the first phase of the port to be opened in the first quarter of 2005. As reported in Pakistan Daily Times, Mr Aziz praised the work done by Chinese engineers in completing the work ahead of schedule and thanked the Chinese government for helping the Pakistani government in the port construction. Central to this success has been the role of the China Harbour Engineering Company. ( www.chec.bj.cn )
A part of their work was the supply of a pair of 2600 HP azimuthing drive docking tugs for the new port. The keels for these boats were laid at China’s PengLai BoHai Shipbuilding Company on January 8 this year.
The 31.5x9.6-meter hulls were launched on August 16, with the complete vessels delivered on October 20th. Named Jandar and Tawana the two vessels have a 9.6-meter molded depth and a designed draft of 3.5 meters. Their twin Cummins KTA38-M2 main engines, each producing 1300 HP at 1800 RPM, will deliver a 30 ton bollard pull and a free running speed of 12.5 knots.
The tugs, with a 317 gross tonnage and a net tonnage of 95 tons, are equipped with firefighting capabilities. The have accommodations for up to 12 crew members and carry enough fuel and water to give them a 14 day endurance.