Smit Lamnalco News

Boluda Corporación Marítima, through its Boluda Towage division, has reached an agreement to acquire Smit Lamnalco, the world's fifth-largest towage operator.With the acquisition of Smit Lamnalco, Boluda Towage will boast a fleet of 600 tugboats with its tendrils reaching 50 countries and 148 ports around the world.Smit Lamnalco is 50% owned by Boskalis Group and Rezayat Group currently employing more than 1,600 people and owning 111 vessels."Boluda is a company that has never stopped growing and transforming itself," said Vicente Boluda Fos, Chairman of Boluda Corporación Marítima.

Turkish shipbuilder Uzmar has built thee new tugs for Smit Lamnalco.Designed by Robert Allan Ltd., the three purpose-designed and -built RAstar 4200 ASD tugs SL Ibo, SL Matemo and SL Macaloe were ordered in 2019. They are the first RAstar 4200 design vessels used for terminal support and have been outfitted specially for these operations. These new 42-meter tugs are specifically designed to be operated in the offshore area near the northeast coast of Pemba, Mozambique. The three tugboats will be working together with one multipurpose vessel as a fleet in support of FLNG operation…

Dutch marine services company Boskalis said it is reviewing its position as shareholder in the joint venture towage operator Smit Lamnalco.Boskalis has held a 50% stake in Smit Lamnalco since 1964 with the remaining shares held by the Saudi Arabian headquartered Rezayat Group, which is also reviewing its position.According to the Smit Lamnalco website, the Rotterdam-based company currently operates 160 vessels in 25 countries, with a staff of about 2,500.

OSD-IMT recently completed the design of a new multipurpose vessel for operator Smit Lamnalco, a design for a MPV 4600 to be built in Turkey at Uzmar Shipyards.Signature features of the new design include a large (185 sq. m.) working deck area, in combination with an offshore rated crane of 6.5 ton @18.5 m. The DP2 vessel will be equipped for deck-cargo runs, towing operations, diving support, facilitating ROV operations and transferring crew and pilots. It will be able to perform standby and rescue tasks…

Dutch dredging company Royal Boskalis Westminster announced that its 50%-owned associate company Smit Lamnalco is contracted by Coral FLNG to provide marine services to the first Mozambique floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) terminal.The 10-year contract with additional extension options marks the first terminal services contract award for the Mozambique offshore LNG developments.The contract value for Smit Lamnalco amounts to approximately USD 200 million and services will commence early 2022.For the delivery of its services Smit Lamnalco will deploy three new 95 ton bollard pull tugs to provide escort, berthing and unberthing services to LNG carriers at the FLNG facility.

Shipbuilder Damen said it has delivered the third and fourth units in a four-vessel contract to leading towage company Smit Lamnalco. All four vessels are Damen’s ASD Tug 3212 class with a bollard pull of 80 metric tons. The order was placed in November 2017 and, with stock boats available, the first two were delivered in June and these latest arrivals in October.The SL Thunggun and SL Irrong have arrived at Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory and will shortly be heading east to the Weipa bauxite mine on the Cape York Peninsular, Queensland.

Drones increasingly take on the dirty, dangerous jobs in maritime. For insight, we spoke with David Knukkel, Founder & CEO, RIMS BVFor our readers not aware, please discuss the size and scope of RIMS BV.RIMS is  a global service provider to help revolutionize maintenance strategies with smart drones and robotic inspections. We offer expertise, as well as the market inspection of enclosed spaces with your drone, (and we have) a lot of experience with inspection of different assets (such as ships…

Netherlands based shipbuilder Damen said it has delivered two of four ASD 3212 tugs to towage and related marine services’ company Smit Lamnalco.Arriving in Oman on July 10, the two new tugs, each with a bollard pull of 80 metric tons, will be directly deployed at a Oman India Fertilizer Company S.A.O.C (OMIFCO) dedicated terminal in the Port of Sur and will be owned and operated by the joint venture Bahwan Lamnalco Company (BLC).In November 2017, Smit Lamnalco announced that it had decided to order four Damen ASD 3212 tugs following an award of two major contracts…

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) closed the third quarter of 2016 in line with expectations. Both revenue and operating profit were higher than the average seen in the first two quarters of the year. The increase was wholly attributable to the contribution from the offshore activities acquired from VolkerWessels, which are consolidated with effect from the third quarter. Adjusted for these activities there was a slight decline in revenue and operating profit compared to the average seen in the first two quarters of the year. Adjusted for acquisitions there was a substantial decline in revenue and operating profit compared to the third quarter of last year, in line with expectations.

MIDDLETOWN, RI – September 12, 2016 – KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI), is driving a sea change in the way that global maritime fleets are using broadband at sea. The company’s usage-based airtime plans now represent a majority of users on KVH’s global satellite network, mini-VSAT Broadbands, which continues to be the market share leader in maritime VSAT. In recent months, many of KVH’s largest and most important fleet customers have chosen usage-based plans—including Open plans, the newest set of usage-based airtime plans offered by KVH.  BW, one of the world’s leading global maritime groups, reached agreement with KVH to switch from an unlimited airtime plan to KVH’s Open plans for several LNG and LPG vessels that have TracPhone V11-IP systems onboard.

Tugboat builder and operator Sanmar Denizcilik is celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year. More than 150 tugboats benefiting from its wealth of experience are presently in operation on international seas, the company says. It was in the year 1976 that Orhan Gürün, today’s company chairman, together with his dear friend, the late Gökçen Seven, incorporated Sanmar Denizcilik. Now celebrating its 40th Anniversary, Sanmar has developed into a force on two fronts, firstly as a tugboat…

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. and KOTUG International B.V. have reached a formal agreement to merge their European harbor towage operations following on a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the parties in late 2014. The combined operations will be transferred to a 50/50 joint venture bringing together the European harbor towage activities of KOTUG and Boskalis subsidiary SMIT, operating under the new name KOTUG SMIT Towage. The scope of the joint venture will encompass the harbor towage operations of SMIT in Belgium…

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) and KOTUG International B.V. (KOTUG) have reached agreement on the merger of their European harbour towage operations. The Memorandum of Understanding signed by the parties in late 2014 has now been formalized following a thorough process. The combined operations will be transferred to a 50/50 joint venture bringing together the European harbour towage activities of SMIT, a Boskalis subsidiary, and KOTUG. The operations will continue under the name KOTUG SMIT Towage. Peter Berdowski, CEO of Boskalis, "This joint venture is an important next step in the implementation of our harbour towage strategy aimed at concentrating and expanding our harbour towage services in regional partnerships.

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) achieved a very busy first half year with historically high profit and realized a net profit of EUR 306.5 million in the first half of 2015, a rise of 21% (H1 2014: EUR 253.0 million). Revenue in the first half of the year rose 1.6% to EUR 1.57 billion (H1 2014: EUR 1.55 billion). Adjusted for (de)consolidation and currency translation effects, revenue was stable. EBITDA in the first half of the year amounted to EUR 500.1 million (H1 2014: EUR 466.4 million) and the operating profit (EBIT) was EUR 359.3 million (H1 2014: EUR 338.3 million). Results in all three segments were good in addition to which there were a number of (positive) exceptional items. Dredging & Inland Infra had an exceptionally busy first half from an operational point of view.

The Robert Allan Ltd. RAstar Series tugs are well proven LNG terminal support/escort tugs, in operation at major LNG facilities worldwide, including terminals in the United Kingdom, Yemen, Mexico, Indonesia, Norway, and the United States. Now Smit Lamalco has introduced five new RAstar 3400 escort tugs to the Port of Gladstone in Australia for LNG terminal support with the fifth and final vessel having just safely arrived in the Port. The five tugs SL Curtis Island, SL Quoin Island, SL Boyne Island, SL Heron Island, and SL Wiggins Island are named after local islands and will serve LNG export terminals in the Port. The tugs will be required to escort LNG carriers through an exposed channel which can be subject to adverse environmental conditions, and then assist them safely to the berths.

Towage and marine services provider Smit Lamnalco has taken delivery of the SL Wiggins Island, the fifth and final tug purpose-built at Sanmar Shipyard in Turkey. The tugboats will service three LNG export terminals in the Port of Gladstone on Australia's east coast. The 80 metric tons bollard pull terminal support escort tug, will now make her way to Australian waters where she will join her sister vessels at the beginning of July. The first of the five-ship Robert Allan RAstar 3400 series - with modifications…

Last month Maritime Reporter spent some time with Vivek Seth, CEO, of Qatar-based Halul Offshore  Services Company, for his insights on the impact of low oil prices in the Middle East and beyond. What is your background? I became part of the Milaha family when I joined Halul Offshore in February 2014 as CEO. I am a second generation Marine Engineer. After sailing as a C/E I took my first shore job as Technical superintendent in Hong Kong for more than two years. Subsequently, I got my Masters in Business Administration from UK.

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. and KOTUG International B.V. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to merge the companies’ European harbor towage operations. The companies will establish a 50/50 joint venture for this purpose, combining the European harbor towage activities of SMIT, a Boskalis subsidiary, with the European harbor towage activities of KOTUG. This merger is the concluding step in Boskalis' strategy aimed at establishing regional partnerships for its harbor towage activities, as was previously done through Smit Lamnalco, Keppel SMIT and most recently SAAM SMIT.

International classification society Bureau Veritas has worked closely with the towing industry to develop a set of Guidelines for Design, Construction and Operation of Tugs. The Guidance Note provides safety rules for tugs in an area of marine safety where there are many vessels not covered by international conventions, with no established framework. Gijsbert de Jong, Bureau Veritas’ Business Development Manager for offshore service vessels and tugs said, “Active involvement with industry stakeholders was vital to building these rules. Bureau Veritas has worked in close cooperation with several industry leaders, including Robert Allan Ltd…

Five vessels of Smit Lamnalco, the global marine service provider, played the key role in the unberthing and float-over of the world's largest high voltage direct current (HVDC) platform, DolWin beta, at Drydocks World - Dubai. The five escort tugs, with more than a combined 450 metric tons bollard pull power, provided marine support not only during the unberthing process but also in the 24-mile tow offshore and its float over on to the heavy transport vessel, Dockwise owned and operated, Mighty Servant 1.

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. announced that Smit Lamnalco, a 50% owned associate, has substantially strengthened its position in Australia through the acquisition of PB Towage Australia (PB Towage). PB Towage is the second largest player in Australia with activities along the Eastern coast stretching from Melbourne to the Cape York Peninsula. Following this transaction, Smit Lamnalco will be active in 8 ports in Australia with a total of 29 vessels offering a combination of harbour towage, terminal and FPSO-related services. The acquisition follows the Boskalis strategy to develop its position in the towage market through partnerships such as Smit Lamnalco and to grow through regional consolidation opportunities.

Pacific Basin Shipping Limited has sold to Smit Lamnalco its entire shareholding in PB Towage Australia (PBTA), including all its harbor towage operations and 16 harbor tugs and two additional assests (one harbor tug and one barge) currently owned by other PB companies. The transaction is expected to complete in January 2015 and will constitute the sale of Pacific Basin's entire harbor towage assets and activities. Mats Berglund, CEO of Pacific Basin, said, "Pacific Basin has been engaged in the harbor towage business since 2007. PB Towage Australia has done a great job for its customers, establishing itself as a leading provider of harbor towage services with a good reputation as a safe and quality-conscious operator.

Smit Lamnalco has contracted Damen to build a new, shallow draught ASD Tug2810, the design of which illustrates the cooperative relationship between the two companies. The tug is set to expand Smit Lamnalco’s oil and gas terminal support services in Novorossiysk, on the Russian Black Sea coast. The contract specifies for the standard 2810 design in all but one key aspect – the vessel’s draught will have to be reduced to 4.5 meters due to the shallow working depths in the field of operation in Novorossiysk.