Tugboat Ordered for Service in Port of Riga, Latvia

PKL Flote to expand its Riga Port fleet , contracting Chernomorsky Shipbuilding Yard to build a 5,000 hp azimuthal tugboat

The vessel is due to be delivered to PKL Flote in the summer of 2013.

It is planned to operate the new tugboat in Riga port, where PKL Flote already employs a vessel of the same type – Castor – which has already proved itself very well in Riga Port.

PKL intends to keep modernizing its fleet. Twelve new tugboats have been constructed over the past several years, operating in Estonia, Finland and Latvia (Ventspils).

The new tugboat is designed as an icebreaking class ARC4, which allows it to operate in areas with one-meter-thick ice, and in addition the tugboat is to be equipped with a powerful external fire-fighting system.

It will also be possible for PKL Flote to use the vessel to provide escort tugboat services, not only to service ships within the port but also to break ice and provide towing services in the Gulfof Riga.