KOTUG Australia to Manage Towage Ops in Port Hedland

KOTUG Australia Pty Ltd  (KOTUG) and WESTUG PTY Ltd (Westug) have successfully concluded an agreement to re-shape the towage services for Pilbara Marine, a subsidiary of Fortescue Metals Group (Fortescue) in Port Hedland. The service includes the operation of nine state of the art Rotortugs at Port Hedland, which have been servicing Fortescue and other port users since the commencement of operations in 2019.

After almost three years of working together to successfully establish the towage service for Fortescue in Port Hedland,  Westug and KOTUG have mutually and amicably agreed to exit their agreement as of August 1, 2021 with regard to this operation.

The boards of both companies agreed that Fortescue’s Port Hedland towage business will benefit from having a single party managing operations, and believe that a single contractor delivery model will have a positive impact on the management of operations and overall responsiveness to the end client.

KOTUG will retain its existing Head Agreement with Pilbara Marine, requiring the company to supply tugs and have overall responsibility for the delivery of Port Hedland towage services.  The operation of the towage services was previously sub-contracted to Westug, however KOTUG will assume control upon Westug exiting the business and will directly manage the towage operation at Port Hedland. All existing Westug personnel will be transferred across to KOTUG as part of this agreement.