Kotug International News

EST-Floattech has been selected by KOTUG International to provide its containerized energy storage solution with Octopus Series energy modules for the E-Pusher 1 (Type M), the world’s first fully electric pusherboat operated by Cargill.The vessel was built by Padmos, and EST-Floattech worked with the yard, Sea and Shore, and Gebhard Electro to realize the system. The container is ESTRIN-Certified and has a capacity of 2MWh. It was designed and constructed in a little over half…

KOTUG International, a marine services and towage provider based in the Netherlands, announced on Thursday it has concluded its acquisition of Kotug Seabulk Maritime (KSM), taking full ownership of the Caribbean marine towage business.KOTUG said it has acquired the interest of its joint venture partner, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based SEACOR Holdings via its Seabulk subsidiary KS Maritime Holdings, owner of the 50% share in KSM.Founded in 2017, KSM acts as the exclusive provider of maritime terminal support services for Buckeye Partners’ Bahamas Hub…

KOTUG said Tuesday it had, via its Guyanese subsidiary KOTUG Guyana strengthened its position in Guyana with the arrival of three additional Offshore Terminal Tugs to support ExxonMobil Guyana’s offshore operations.With the arrival of KOTUG-owned ‘SD Grace’, ‘Seaways 20’ and ‘Seaways 22’, KOTUG will operate a total of five offshore terminal tugs in Guyana.The vessels predominantly provide support (“tanker lifting operations”) to the large crude oil tankers that are loading crude oil from ExxonMobil's producing FPSOs in the Stabroek field…

SEACOR Holdings said Monday it had agreed to sell its U.S. harbor towing operations and assets from its Seabulk subsidiary to two parties, E.N. Bisso & Son, Inc. and Bay-Houston Towing Co.The E.N. Bisso transaction includes 12 harbor towing vessels across ports in Florida and Alabama. Bay-Houston is acquiring eight vessels operating in Texas along the Sabine Neches Navigation District and in the Port of Lake Charles, La."E.N. Bisso and Bay-Houston are two industry-leading harbor towing providers supported by many decades of safe and reliable operations…

In 2021, Trans Mountain, on behalf of shippers for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMEP), awarded KOTUG Canada Inc. a long-term contract to provide escort towage services for tankers that load crude oil at Trans Mountain’s Westridge Marine Terminal.Trans Mountain operates Canada’s only oil pipeline servicing the West Coast of Canada providing tidewater access to foreign markets for Canada’s petroleum resources.Under the agreement, KOTUG Canada, which is a partnership between KOTUG International B.V.

Cargill will charter the world’s first fully electric pusher boat and barges to transport cocoa beans in the Netherlands.The company will use Kotug International’s zero emission E-Pusher and E-Barges to transport cocoa beans from the Port of Amsterdam, the largest cocoa import port in the world, to its cocoa factory in Zaandam. The fully electrified pusher and barges eliminate both emissions and noise pollution for inland shipping.The E-Pusher 1 was christened this week, marking the official start of the operations with the vessel for Cargill…

KOTUG's subsidiary KOTUG Guyana has been awarded a second contract by ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana to support operations in Guyana. KOTUG’s latest addition, the 120 tonnes bollard pull strong SD Honour, will join the fleet of dedicated offshore terminal tugs supporting the two floating production, storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs), Liza Destiny and Liza Unity, on the Stabroek Block, offshore Guyana with static tow, push-pull duties and general…

The Training & Consultancy division of KOTUG International (KOTUG) and U.S. maritime education and maritime training provider the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) entered into a strategic partnership to offer exclusive training of tug masters, ships’ crews, river barge shippers, and pilots by certified KOTUG trainers at SCI training facilities across the United States. The partnership was officially kicked-off by hosting Moran Towing Corporation for a week of ASD operator training assisted by Riven Marine founder Captain Jay Rivera.Since 2019…

Dutch marine services and towage company KOTUG has agreed to buy offshore support vessel firm Seaways International, in what is the largest acquisition in KOTUG's history.KOTUG said the move, of an undisclosed value, was part of its strategy to expand its business in assisting worldwide floating facilities such as FSO, FPSO, FLNG, FSRU, and SPM Terminals. "In addition, it will further consolidate the position of KOTUG in this niche market that is expected to grow as new offshore floating projects emerge in response to rising energy demand…

Marine services and towage firm KOTUG Canada Inc., a partnership between KOTUG International and Canada’s Horizon Maritime Inc., has won a long-term agreement with Trans Mountain, operator of Canada’s only oil pipeline servicing the West Coast of Canada providing tidewater access to foreign markets for Canada’s petroleum resources. KOTUG Canada will provide escort towage to tankers loaded at Westridge Marine Terminal. "KOTUG Canada was selected for this purpose by shippers on the Trans Mountain Pipeline after a rigorous and competitive process facilitated by Trans Mountain.

KOTUG International B.V. and Shift Clean Energy announced the formation of a partnership to use Shift’s new PwrSwäp clean energy service—which uses swappable batteries on a pay-as-you-go basis—on KOTUG’s E-Pusher vessels.The signing of the MoU coincides with COP26 in Glasgow, where reducing global greenhouse gases (GHGs) is at the top of the agenda. The combined services support the maritime industry in reaching this goal today, without requiring any upfront capital costs and at competitive rates, the partners said.Shift’s technologies provide a ready to market pay-as-you-go service.

Australian mining giant BHP has taken two KOTUG's tugs on long-term charters to support bulk carrier loadings at Port Hedland, Australia.KOTUG, a Dutch marine services and towage company, said Thursday, its new build Rotortugs RT Imperieuse and RT Clerke had arrived in Port Hedland.Both 32m ART80-32 tugs, built at Cheoy Lee Shipyard, have three Caterpillar main engines, that deliver a total output of 5,295kW each, 13 knots sailing speed, and 80 tons bollard pull power. They are equipped with advanced DMT Escort Winches.

KOTUG International B.V. (KOTUG) won a long-term contract by Perenco Oil & Gas Gabon S.A. (Perenco) to provide towage support for their operations off Port Gentil, Gabon. The contract includes the chartering, operation and manning of three vessels, two of which are Kotug’s first-ever Rotor Tugs, the RT Magic and RT Spirit.RT Magic and RT Spirit will set sail to Gabon to support Perenco Oil & Gas in optimizing their marine spread thereby providing cost savings  simultaneously with redundancy in operations.

KOTUG International B.V. (KOTUG) established an inland shipping division to provide electric powered pusher tugs and smart AI-driven dispatch and route planning applications for the inland water transportation industry, aiming to support the worldwide energy transition and the modal shift from road transport to waterways while meeting the growing demand for electric-powered vessels. "The inland shipping market offers a great opportunity for sustainable logistical solutions," says Ard-Jan Kooren, CEO of KOTUG International B.V.

Dutch marine services and towage company KOTUG said it has been awarded a long-term contract by ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) to provide offshore terminal towage support for operations in Guyana.KOTUG, through local entity KOTUG Guyana Inc., will employ a high-spec 130 tonnes bollard pull, DP-2 azimuth anchor-handling tug SD Power to provide support to the existing and upcoming floating production, storage and offloading units (FPSO) at the Liza Field in the prolific Stabroek Block offshore Guyana by providing towage assistance to export tankers…

A high-tech tug in the Netherlands has traveled without human intervention on an AI-optimized route from Boompjes to Waalhaven in the Port of Rotterdam, marking a milestone on the path toward fully autonomous and maritime sustainable operations.The milestone voyage was led by maritime service provider KOTUG International, ship design company Rotortug and tech start-up Captain AI, as part of the Netherlands Forum for Smart Shipping.The demonstration follows the summer 2018 trial of a Rotortug sailing under remote control from Marseille…

KOTUG International B.V. has completed the 100% acquisition of Marsol International Ltd., an offshore and marine terminal service center, specialized in offshore single point mooring (SPM) buoy terminals and its related infrastructure.The core business of Marsol is integrity management based commercial and technical marine service solutions for SPM and offshore terminals. Over the years Marsol’s management has operated on 32 offshore marine terminals in more than 20 countries. Marsol’s operational headquarters are based in Dubai.

Dutch salvage and towage company Kotug said that its two tugs have helped to rescue a containership hit by fire while sailing off the coast of East Africa.The 2,503-teu Oinousses (built 2000) was sailing sailing from Maputo to Mombasa, off the coast of Mozambique after the vessel sustained an engine room fire.On the night of January 20, two Rotortugs of KOTUG International picked up the Mayday signal of the container vessel EM-Oinousses having a devastating fire in the engine room.Although the vessel’s crew adequately extinguished the fire, at approximately 50 miles off the coast of Nacala, Mozambique, the ship appeared to be uncontrollable.The salvage was carried out by KOTUG’S Rotortugs RT Spirit and RT Magic.

A containership lost steering off the coast of Mozambique on Monday after its crew put out an engine room fire on board the 680-foot vessel.Towage operator KOTUG International said two of its vessels responded after picking up a mayday call from the Marshall-Islands-flagged Em Oinousses, approximately 50 miles off the coast of Nacala, Mozambique, while en route from Maputo, Mozambique to Mombasa, Kenya.KOTUG said its Rotortugs RT Spirit and RT Magic carried out the salvage in high seas, making quick connections to the disabled vessel for tow into Nacala.

KOTUG and Boskalis sell Kotug Smit Towage shares to Boluda Group (Boluda).KOTUG International BV and Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. have successfully concluded the sale of Kotug Smit Towage to Boluda Group (Boluda), in line with the initial announcement of 4 March 2019.By partnering with Boskalis’ subsidiary SMIT in 2016, KOTUG strengthened its presence in 11 ports in 4 European countries. The integration of businesses led to further growth, synergy and smarter towage operations.

Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit, the largest construction vessel in the world, has arrived in the port of Rotterdam to prepare itself for upcoming topsides lift works.The preparations included the removal of the pipelaying stinger. When Pioneering Spirit is required for topsides lift work, the pipelaying stinger will be removed from the bow section of the vessel and stored on the purpose-built barge, Bumblebee.Kotug Smit Towage provided various towage services for the removal of the stinger. This included among others the transportation of the barge ‘Bumblebee’ to the Alexiahaven, where the mooring wires for Bumblebee were prepared. Thereafter…

Successful trials of Inmarsat Fleet Xpress off Western Australia have persuaded global tug operator KOTUG International to select the high-speed broadband solution for this area of the Asia Pacific region.Following trials on board the 100-ton bollard pull tug Roebuck Bay, the towage service company has confirmed that the unique Fleet Xpress combination of Ka-band, continuously backed up by FleetBroadband, has significantly enhanced both the stability of communications and available…

KOTUG International B.V. and Canada-based offshore vessels operator Horizon Maritime Horizon Maritime Services have formed KOTUG Canada, a joint venture company which will offer terminal and harbor towage services across Canada.The joint venture looks forward to developing a strong presence within the Canadian terminal and harbour towing market.The strategic partnership brings complimentary skills from each partner and the sharing of joint experience, expertise, and best practices will generate outstanding value for customers.“We are very pleased to partner with the world leaders in sustainable marine towing operations, combining our local experience and expertise to offer Canadian customers a top-notch level of towage services…