General Towing News

Sanmar Shipyards delivered four tugs during the final week of 2022 rounding off a year that saw the Turkish tugboat-builder deliver a total of 30 tugs to operators across Europe, the Middle East, Australia, South and Central America and Asia, along with others to its domestic market in Türkiye.The last tug to be delivered in 2022 was YENICAY XVI to Türkiye based Marintug, where it was been renamed ADAKALE by its new owners. The RAscal 1800 Class of compact tugs have been developed exclusively for Sanmar by Canadian naval architects Robert Allan Ltd…

Gökçay, the first RApport 1600-SX tug, was run through its paces by her builders, Sanmar Shipyards, in late May and showed excellent performance in all respects. The new steel twin screw harbor tug is designed for high performance at a competitive cost. It has increased beam for better stability and excellent visibility in all directions from the compact wheelhouse. Conventional twin screw propulsion with twin nozzles and four rudders provide a bollard pull of 21 tons and a top speed of 11.5 knots with excellent maneuverability.

Three newbuild vessels have been delivered from Sanmar Shipyards to the Aqaba Port Marine Services Company (APMSCO) for the Sheikh Subah Al Ahmad Al Subah LNG terminal at Aqaba, Jordan, the shipbuilder announced. The overall contract comprises four 80-metric-ton bollard pull specially modified Terminal RAstar 2800 ASD tugs, two conventional twin screw Rascal 1500 line-handling tugs, all designed by Robert Allan Ltd. of Canada, and a pilot boat designed by Camarc Ltd in the U.K.

The Yenicay 1 is the first of the new RAscal 1800 series of ASD tug designed by Robert Allan Ltd. and delivered by Sanmar to its own fleet in Turkey in January, 2015. The RAscal 1800 is a big sister to the RAscal 1500 delivered by Sanmar in 2014 to Norwegian clients and shares a common hull form style, wheelhouse and general layout. According to the designer, both are built to high standards, almost yacht finish, and are fitted with Caterpillar engines and Veth Z-drives. However, the RAscal 1800 has considerably more power, speed and bollard pull.

Haden II, the 12th tug for Bay-Houston Towing Company, was christened in Galveston. Designed in-house in coordination with Schuller & Allan, Inc., the 3,900 bhp tug is designed primarily for ship docking, but also has general towing capabilities. The vessel was built by Main Iron Works, and will service the ports of Houston and Galveston. Design criteria were developed to enhance the most important functions of the tug's mission: high maneuverability, coupled with maximum bollard pull (thrust).

Crowley Marine Services recently accepted the delivery of Alert - the first of a trio of new 140 ft. 10,192-hp Prevention and Rescue Response Tugs (PRT's) under contract with the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company for use in both Valdez Harbor and Prince William Sound, Alaska. The general purpose PRT's are powered by twin Caterpillar 3612B engines generating the combined 10,192-hp driving two Kamewa Aquamaster azimuthing thrusters. The tugs are also equipped for firefighting, emergency response and oil spill recovery. Recent sea trial proved Alert was able to generate a certified bollard pull of 300,000-lbs., and a free running speed in excess of 16 knots. The entire PRT trio was designed by Guido Perla & Associates, and was constructed at Dakota Creek Shipyard in Anacortes, Wash.

Guido Perla and Assoc., Inc., has recently completed contract design for Crowley Maritime Corp.'s subsidiary Vessel Management Services' series of three PRT Class (Prevention and Response) Tanker Assist/General Towing Z-Drive tugs. GPA is also furnishing complete detail modular construction engineering for the 140 ft. x 10,192 hp Caterpillar-powered PRT Class, which are currently under construction at Dakota Creek Industries in Anacortes, Wash. The vessels are designed as diesel powered twin Z-Drive propulsion tugboats, outfitted for tanker rescue, ocean towing, emergency oil spill response, fire fighting and harbor service. Propulsion is provided by two Caterpillar 3612B diesel engines, each rated 5,096 bhp @ 900 rpm, driving two Kamewa Aquamaster U.S.

Crowley Marine Services recently accepted the delivery of Alert — the first of a trio of new 140 ft. (42.6 m), 10,192-hp Prevention and Rescue Response Tugs (PRT's) under contract with the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company for use in both Valdez Harbor and Prince William Sound, Alaska. The general purpose PRT's are powered by twin Caterpillar 3612B engines generating the combined 10,192-hp driving two Kamewa Aquamaster azimuthing thrusters. The tugs are also equipped for firefighting, emergency response and oil spill recovery. Recent sea trial proved that Alert was able to generate a certified bollard pull of 300,000-lbs., and a free running speed in excess of 16 knots.