Rotor Tug News

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…

Signet Sirius, the first of two ART 92-32W Rotortugs was recently delivered by Signet Maritime at their Pascagoula Shipbuilding and Repair facility. This is the first ART Rotortug that Signet has built and operated in their fleet. Designed by Robert Allan Ltd. in collaboration with RotorTug BV, the Advanced Rotortugs (ART) incorporate the patented triple Z-drive Rotortug propulsion layout, featuring omni-directional maneuverability, and the benefits of a fully redundant and precise propulsion machinery configuration.

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…

Master Boat Builders, Inc. on Thursday announced it delivered the new tug Hermes to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-headquartered Seabulk earlier this month.A sister ship to Nike, delivered to Seabulk in 2021, Hermes is an Advanced Rotortug (ART 90-98US) designed by Robert Allan Ltd. and built at MBB’s Coden, Ala. yard.The high-powered, maneuverable vessel will provide ship assists in Port of Mobile, servicing Seabulk’s customers, particularly shipyards and container liners. The tug is built to meet USCG regulations and is classed through the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), including escort notation.

3D digital design can save ‘dollars on the deck plate’ during construction while maintaining safety, says to Patrick Ryan, Senior Vice President, Global Engineering and Technology, ABS.Last year ABS, Robert Allan, Signet and USCG collaborated on a project that would be the first commercial vessel in U.S. history to be produced using only 3D models in design and construction for all structures. While the process used to deliver this RAL-designed Advanced Rotortug (ART) is historic…

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.

The evolution of commercial ship design and construction now includes a first in the U.S.: the first commercial U.S. vessel designed, built and verified using an end-to-end 3D design process, a project coordinated through ABS, Robert Allan Ltd. (RAL), Signet Maritime Corporation (Signet) and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG).Designed by RAL, the Advanced Rotortug (ART), which is designed to escort vessels and offshore assets at the Port of Corpus Christi, will receive its Certificate of Inspection from the USCG and will now be built and operated by Signet to ABS Class…

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…

JRC / Alphatron Marine said it has won a contract to supply four integrated bridge systems for U.S.-based Seabulk Towing Inc.The new vessels, two upgraded ART 90-98US tugs, and two new Rapport 3000 are being built at Master Boat Builders in Coden, Ala.. One of the tugboats is expected to be deliverd in December 2020. The other three tugboats will be delivered in January 2021, June 2021 and July 2021.Two of these newbuilds will be added to the company’s existing Rotortug fleet.

German propulsion manufacturer SCHOTTEL announced it has been awarded a contract from Alabama shipbuilder Master Boat Builders to supply a total of six rudderpropellers for a pair of new tugs being constructed for U.S.-based Seabulk Towing Inc, a subsidiary of SEACOR Holdings Inc.Both Robert Allan Ltd.-designed newbuilds will feature the Advanced Rotortug (ART) design triangular propulsion system.The tugs will be propelled by three SCHOTTEL Rudderpropellers type SRP 430 FP with a propeller diameter of 2.4 meters, each driven by a 1,771-kilowatt diesel engine.

Canadian naval architecture and marine engineering services company Robert Allan Ltd (RAL) has been awarded design contracts of two vessel types for Seabulk Towing (a subsidiary of Seacor), to be built at Alabama-based Master Boat Builders, Inc.The newbuild program consists of 2 upgraded ART 90-98US tugs and 2 new RApport 3000 tugs, said the designer of commercial working vessels of all types.Two of the newbuilds will add to Seacor’s existing Rotortug fleet, with some feature updates to the Rotortug design, which has proven to be highly capable within the Company’s port system.The ART (Advanced Rotortug) designation applies to tugs featuring the unique triple drive configuration designed by Robert Allan Ltd.

Seabulk Towing Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of SEACOR Holdings Inc., announced Wednesday it has contracted with Alabama-based Master Boat Builders, Inc. for the construction of four 80 metric ton bollard pull harbor tugs with an expected delivery beginning in the second half of 2021 through early 2022.Two of the newbuilds will augment the company’s existing Rotortug fleet and feature updates to the Rotortug design, Seabulk said.The other two Azimuth Stern Drive newbuilds will be equipped with diesel mechanical and electric motor propulsion systems. These vessels represent Seabulk’s initial investment in hybrid power towing assets and will operate alongside the company’s existing harbor fleet in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and the U.S. East Coast.

With the successful start an important milestone has been reached in the execution of the contract to operate the tugboat fleet for Fortescue Metals Group (Fortescue) in Port Hedland, a bulk export port on Australia´s west coast. The fleet consists of eight new ART 85-32W and one RT80-32 Rotortugs. Six of them are Fortescue owned, three are owned by KOTUG, which are chartered directly to Fortescue. KOTUG manages the entire contract.Port Hedland in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, is the site of the highest tonnage port in Australia.

Last Thursday, Damen Shipyards Gorinchem hosted the Damen group’s third annual Workboat Festival. The event brought together more than 200 customers, media and industry partners, and 34 workboats, for an afternoon of presentations, demonstrations, product displays and interactive exhibits.The workboats ranged in size from ten-meter Stan Launches and Stan Tugs up to a 72-meter Stan Pontoon. In between were Fast Crew Suppliers, Stan Pilots, Stan Patrols, additional Stan Launches and Tugs, plus an Interceptor and a RHIB.

Albwardy Damen, the joint venture shipyard in Sharjah, UAE, between the Damen Shipyards Group and UAE-based Albwardy Investment, has received a prestigious Superbrands 2018 Award from Superbrands Worldwide, the world’s largest independent arbiter of branding. It pays tribute to the strongest and most valuable brands in the world through its publications and national marketing programmes. The winners of these awards were selected by the International Arbitration Board of the Award, made up of more than 4,000 marketing experts from the UAE business community. The Hamriyah Free Zone in which Albwardy Damen operates won the Superbrands UAE Award for 2018 for the second time in a row.

A naming ceremony was held for RT Raven in Sharjah, UAE, where the new tug was built at the Albwardy Damen yard. RT Raven is managed by KT-Maritime Services Australia, owned by the KOTUG group, and will be deployed by ConocoPhillips in the Bayu Undan field, north of Australia. The ART 100-46 class Rotor tug is designed by Robert Allan Ltd and DAMEN Hardinxveld. The RT Raven will provide offshore services, towage assistance, personnel transfer and standby duties at ConocoPhillips’ Bayu Undan field in the Timor Sea.

Marine News showcases the best of North America’s 2017 workboat deliveries. There is something for everyone. Notwithstanding the lingering offshore energy downturn, there were plenty of bright spots for North American shipyards in 2017. If a hull was delivered in 2017, we took a look at it, with several areas as a focus for inclusion into this edition. For starters, it is always exciting when a domestic yard delivers a vessel – or multiple vessels, for that matter – to foreign buyers. We can compete in a foreign arena; on price, quality and on-time delivery. This year was no different. No less important is the environmental footprint of a vessel, and there was plenty to report on from that angle in the past 12 months. The domestic waterfront is indeed getting greener and cleaner.

Being based just across the open border between Canada and America since 1930, Robert Allan Ltd. has developed a deep understanding of the American market and just how our ship designs can be tailored to suit our neighbors’ requirements. America is unique in many ways. The current designs of American towing vessels are largely the result of domestically focused requirements not encountered elsewhere. As a result, Robert Allan Ltd. has had to learn to treat America as unique and not to assume means and methods used elsewhere will suit the U.S. market. A simple example is the use of the U.S.

Pilbara Marine Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd has placed an order with Damen Shipyards for the building of six, 32-meter Rotor Tugs. These will be deployed at the company’s operations at Port Hedland on Australia’s west coast, the world’s largest bulk export port. From there, Fortescue exports 165-170 million metric tons of iron ore per year. The six tugs are of the ART 85-32W class, designed by Robert Allan Ltd. Their Rotor Tug propulsion system features three azimuth thrusters; two forward and one aft.

The first U.S.-built Rotortug, ART Trident, has undergone trials and is now in service. Designed by Robert Allan Ltd., and designated as an ART 80-98US, she was built by Master Boat Builders in Bayou La Batre, Ala., and is the first in a series of three being constructed for Seabulk Towing of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The ART (Advanced Rotortug) designation applies to Robert Allan Ltd. designed tugs featuring the triple Z-drive configuration, originally conceived and developed by Rotortug (KST) B.V. of the Netherlands.

The TRAktor-Z 2500SX is the new Z-drive tractor tug designed by Robert Allan Ltd. in collaboration with Sanmar Shipyards. Engineered for maximum efficiency in both harbor ship handling and towing duties, this compact, under 24 m rule length design offers dependable omnidirectional performance for use in ports worldwide. The hull and appendage configuration has been extensively model tested and analysed with Robert Allan Ltd.’s in house Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) capability, to optimize directional stability both while sailing ahead and astern, without compromising maneuverability.

SCHOTTEL, a manufacturer of propulsion and steering systems for ships and offshore applications, reports it has entered into 2016 with a bag full of new orders. The December orders underpin again the role the German manufacturer plays in the tug market. SCHOTTEL closed 2015 with eight orders for ASD tugs and a Rotor Tug with bollard pulls from 50 to 80 tons. The orders are covering the whole range of vessel types – tugs, four double-ended ferries, fishery patrol ships, survey vessels for inland waterways, seismic research vessels and yachts.

The Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners (KVNR) has awarded its Shipping Award to Netherlands-based towage operator KOTUG for its next-generation ART80-32 Hybrid Rotortugs. The award was presented during the 10th Dutch Maritime Awards Gala in Rotterdam by Tineke Netelenbos, chairman of the KVNR Shipping Award jury, who stated, “The propulsion configuration of these new-generation ART80-32 Hybrid Rotortugs series draws on the proven design of KOTUG’s RT Adriaan, world’s first hybrid Rotortug built under class. In 2012 KOTUG retrofitted this conventional Rotortug into a hybrid Rotortug.