Wijsmuller News

Al Yamama, the first of three new Incat Crowther 33 crew boats designed for Nakilat Svitzer Wijsmuller (NSW), has been officially launched in Singapore by shipbuilder Lita Ocean.NSW Al Yamama, with its homeport of Doha, will serve as wellhead maintenance vessels for QatarEnergy in the Middle East.Designed specifically for the transfer of special maintenance personnel and equipment, the three BV-classed vessels can transport 40 people at speeds of up to 24 knots. The vessel’s main deck features generously spaced passenger seating…

Offshore Ship Designers (OSD) has designed a powerful, low-emission compact e-tug to further augment its Azistern series of vessels. Among other roles, the vessel is equipped to deliver harbor assistance. OSD managing director Michiel Wijsmuller said, “The Azistern-e has the typical low resistance stable hull and all-round visibility that is associated with all Azistern designs. The hybrid power of the 22 m LOA / 50 BP Azistern-e is generated by two 970kW variable speed gensets and is supported by two 400kWh lithium battery packs.

Nakilat has celebrated the delivery of two 16-meter mooring boats built by shipbuilder Nakilat Damen Shipyards Qatar for towage operator Nakilat Svitzer Wijsmuller. The built-in-Qatar vessels will be operated at the Port of Ras Laffan. The two Stan Tug 1606 mooring boats, named Ras Al Allaj Qatar and Al Esaiwed, are the first of a seven-vessel order that Nakilat Damen Shipyards Qatar is currently working on for Nakilat Svitzer Wijsmuller. The vessels will work on a long-term charter…

OSD-IMT, the U.K. division of Offshore Ship Designers (OSD), announced it has developed a range of new designs of offshore windfarm service operation vessels (SOVs). The 1,350 dwt IMT972 SOV is powered by two Steerprop SP25 or equal 1900 kWe fixed pitch azimuth propulsion units. There is also an option for fitting two 2.5 MW Voith Turbo main thrusters. Frequency-controlled electric motor-driven CPP thruster units are fitted forward, comprising two tunnel-type bow thrusters and one retractable bow thruster for station-keeping and high-dynamic performance under maneuvering or DP conditions.

Qatari shipbuilder Nakilat Damen Shipyards Qatar (NDSQ) has laid the keels for two 16m-long Stan Tugs, part of a seven-vessel order for marine services provider Nakilat Svitzer Wijsmuller (NSW). A small ceremony to mark this important step in the shipbuilding process was held at NDSQ’s facilities at Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard in Qatar’s Port of RasLaffan. The two twin-screw Stan Tugs have a bollard pull of 15 tons and will be used for mooring vessels visiting the Port of RasLaffan.

Amarcon, a member of the ABB group, received an OCTOPUS-Onboard order for the new build Dockwise Vanguard. This vessel is one of the largest and most advanced heavy lift vessel ever built. The vessel was launched in November 2012 and is currently undergoing sea trials. Dockwise was founded in 1993 as a merger between Wijsmuller Transport and Dock Express Shipping, making Dockwise the world’s largest and most versatile heavy transport shipping company. The Dockwise Vanguard shall be equipped with OCTOPUS-Onboard for the purpose of motion monitoring…

Offshore Ship Designers has been contracted to develop the design of a low-emission diesel-electric harbour tug for IJmuiden-based Iskes Towage & Salvage. The 32-metre loa tug will have a bollard pull of 70 tonnes and will be powered by three diesel gensets driving electric motors mounted over azimuthing propellers aft and a Voith in-line thruster forward. The Azistern 3270 tug is a further development of the low-emission Azistern series developed by OSD. It is expected to reduce emissions by 30 per cent compared to conventional, similar-sized harbour tugs now in service.

IJmuiden-based Offshore Ship Designers is to design a new compact but powerful AHT offshore support vessel for Netherlands-based Neptune Marine Service BV. The order follows a recent contract for the design of two Azistern24/56 tugs for Singapore-based Pacific Offshore Engineering and Trading Pte. The key to both designs is that although the vessels will have the capabilities of much larger tugs and offshore support vessels, their smaller size reduces both capital outlay and on-going operational costs.

IJmuiden-based Offshore Ship Designers (OSD) has opened a design office in Singapore. The office will provide a local liaison point for customers building ships in Asia which were designed in the Dutch and UK offices of OSD, and also provide a local solution for design projects for companies based in Singapore. “We already have a successful design and newbuilding supervision office in Shanghai,” said Michiel Wijsmuller, managing director of OSD. “But as Singapore is rapidly strengthening as a hub for offshore activities, it is important for us to have a company there.

Ashtead Technology announced that Graham Philip has joined the Board as Chief Executive Officer. The appointment is the latest addition to the management team since Ashtead Technology was acquired in June 2008 by Phoenix Equity Partners in a $183.7m MBO. Headquartered in Aberdeen, Ashtead Technology rents specialist equipment to the offshore oil and gas sector and the environmental monitoring and testing industry and operates from 14 locations in the UK, North America and Singapore.

Design teams in IJmuiden, Montrose, Escrick, Bideford and Shanghai will now all operate under the IJmuiden-based Offshore Ship Designers (OSD) name and will work more closely together. The office in Bideford is new and will focus on cargo ships, patrol vessels, dredgers and mega yachts. Michiel Wijsmuller, managing director of OSD, said, "We are not just rebranding, we have integrated a loose group into a strong company. WorldWise Marine and IMT are now an integrated design company with solid engineering capacity but above all, a strong independent presence in all the key markets.

WorldWise Marine, a partner in the Offshore Ship Designers group, has launched a new design for a near-zero emission hydrogen powered tug. Michiel Wijsmuller, managing director of Offshore Ship Designers, said, "This new harbor tug will be able to remain on standby, and mobilize/demobilize with zero emissions, and will save up to 98 percent of SOx, NOx and particulate matter and 30 percent of CO2 emissions in total compared to a conventional harbour tug over the whole employment cycle.

Only six months after its official launch in Beijing, BIMCO’s Internet Document Editing Application (idea) has garnered a list of clients worldwide. The number of companies using idea now exceeds 100 and includes not only shipowners and shipbrokers, but also ship management companies, port agents and law firms. The broad appeal of idea stems from its ease of use and the wide range of standard shipping documents available, plus the ability to share the same edited document between offices. In addition to numerous conventional voyage and time charter parties, idea offers electronic versions of ship and crew management agreements, towage contracts, bills of lading and statements of fact.

Marcon International, Inc. of Coupeville, Wash., has been authorized by the Russian Navy to offer for longterm commercial bareboat charter the twin screw, ocean firefighting salvage tugs Fotiy Krylov and SB-408. The 24,480 bhp, 40,000 hp salvage tug 97.6m Fotiy Krylov (ex-Tsavliris Giant, SB-135) was designed in co-operation with Wijsmuller Engineering and is one of the largest, most powerful and sophisticated tugs in the international salvage fleet. She was originally built in 1989 at a reported cost of about $45 million by Hollming Oy of Rauma, Finland for the Russian Navy and has the reported capability of towing a laden tanker of up to 500,000 dwt.

MarineSafety International Rotterdam b.v. (MSR) recently successfully completed the first of a series of four training courses for Point Fortin sponsored by Atlantic LNG Trinidad and Tobago. This Interactive Pilot-Tug-Master training for the Trinidad Pilots & Berthing Master Association, the tug masters of Plipwijs, and various masters of LNG carriers calling at Point Fortin, lasted five days. The major portion of the course was related to all aspects of safely piloting the LNG carriers Norman Lady, Matthew and Methane Arctic, loaded, as well as ballasted, in and out of Trinidad's LNG port under difficult circumstances. Special attention was given to tug assistance when operating an Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) tug.

Through its subsidiary, Cory Towage Limited, The Wijsmuller Group has been awarded a contract for marine services at the Ash Shihr oil export terminal in Yemen for Canadian Occidental Petroleum Yemen, which is familiarly known as CanOxy Yemen. The Ash Shihr terminal deals with crude originating inland, which is piped to the terminal storage tanks from where it is then pumped to loading tankers at the single point mooring buoy (SPM) - three miles offshore. The SPM can handle the largest tankers and regularly receives vessels of 300,000-dwt. The contract, which commenced June 1, entails the provision of a specialist multipurpose vessel, a linehandling tug, operation of a pollution control vessel and maintenance of the SPM both above and below water.

Italian prowess in the field of passenger vessel design, outfitting and technology is near legendary status in the international marine community. Even as the grip on these high-value, niche vessels loosens — largely due to cost-cutting competition from the Far East — a quick peak a the world orderbook and recent deliveries of cruise ships quickly tells who currently reigns supreme in the cruise shipping market. Evidence of Italian influence in the passenger vessel segment is undeniable, and over the years the country's shipbuilders have catered to some of the world's most discerning and quality demanding customers, such as U.S.-based Disney Cruise Line.

Wijsmuller Marine has accepted the first of two azimuthing stern drive (ASD) tractor tugs from the Spanish shipbuilder Astilleros Zamacona. Following a crew familiarization period, the Ayton Cross is expected to be in full service by the middle of the month. The second tug, Ormesby Cross, is to be delivered by Zamacona before the end of the year. Both tugs will be based on the River Tees from where the Wijsmuller tug fleet covers both the Tees and the port of Hartlepool. With a bollard pull of 60 tons each, the two new tugs will be the most powerful units in the fleet and will allow Wijsmuller to transfer one of its existing Tees tractor tugs, Yarm Cross, to its Tyne operation.

Danish oil and shipping group A.P. Moeller's Svitzer tug and salvage unit said on Thursday it bought privately-owned Dutch Wijsmuller Group Holding for an undisclosed sum. Wijsmuller is one of the world's leading providers of harbor and terminal towage and salvage services, operating a fleet of over 150 vessels in 21 countries, with more than 1,000 employees. Moeller's Svitzer group currently operates 72 vessels and employs 620 staff providing tug and salvage services in Denmark and Sweden, bulk transportation (tug and barge) throughout northern Europe and safety standard vessels and survey vessels primarily in the North Sea. Svitzer would pay almost one billion Danish crowns ($113.6 million) for Wijsmuller, a sector source said.

Danish A.P. Moeller shares rebounded on Friday after news of its purchase of Dutch tug and salvage company Wijsmuller Group Holding on Thursday, brokers said. The two A P Moeller stocks, D/S 1912 and D/S Svendborg, traded at 69,500 crowns ($7,898) and 91,500 crowns respectively, 2.2 percent and 1.7 percent up from Thursday's close. The Copenhagen bourse's top 20 index KFX was down 0.4 percent at 316.15. Moeller shares have underperformed the KFX index by more than three percent the past 10 days, dented by news that Morgan Stanley within a year would cut the conglomerate's weight in its Denmark index. "The shares are rebounding on the Dutch news and it seems foreign sale pressure in the shares has faded," a trader said.

Joop Timmermans was elected President of the International Salvage Union at the ISU’s September Annual Meeting in Quebec. Joop Timmermans, managing director of the Dutch towage, salvage and heavy lift company I.T.C. (International Transport Contractors), succeeds Jean Labescat, of the French Les Abeilles. Joop is a master mariner by profession. He commenced his seagoing career in 1962 with Nederland Line (Royal Dutch Mail) of Amsterdam, which later merged with NedLloyd Lines. He obtained his Master's License in the early 1970s. In 1975, Joop joined I.T.C. as a Marine Superintendent. He became Manager of the Commercial Department four years later and Vice-President in 1983. In 1991, he moved to Fairmount Marine of Rotterdam as Managing Director, a position he held for six years.