Shipyard Begins Building Tugboats for Dutch Firm

The Da Nang-based Song Thu Co laid the keels for four 5,000 hp tugboats at a ceremony on Saturday. The 24-metre long, 11-metre wide vessels, known as ASD (Azimuth stern driver) 2411, will be built by the State-owned company for the Netherlands-based Damen group under a $18.75m contract signed last year. The Dutch group will supply the design, technologies, and equipment for building the vessels. Colonel Ha Son Hai, the company’s managing director, said the tugboats would be completed in 36 months. He said this year Song Thu would also build a 3,500 hp rescue vessel for the coast guard, vessels to respond to oil spills, and multi-purpose vessels for use in the oil and gas sector. Source: VNS