Vittoria Shipyard Delivers Tug for Algeria
Veneto shipbuilder Vittoria Shipyard has marked its return to the construction of harbor and coastal tugs with its latest delivery to the port authority in Skikda, Algeria.
The new tug C.869 was ordered in December 2016 by the Algerian Transport Ministry for a cost of €7 million and was delivered in June during an official handover from representatives of the Vittoria Shipyard to a delegation from the Algerian port authority.
Following the launch at the end of last year and on-site personnel training, the tug will be able to start to carry out tug and escort work on the coasts and in the ports of the North African country, in the service of the Entreprise Portuaire de Skikda.
With the delivery of Cap de Fer, the Adria-based shipbuilder said it has regained its position as a player in the domestic and international market for harbor and coastal tugs. Over the years Cantiere Navale Vittoria has specialized in creating military and paramilitary vessels (above all patrol boats, interceptors, and Search and Rescue [SAR] and landing craft, as well as working boats, support craft for harbor and offshore platform work) and passenger transport.
In addition to the recently delivered tug, the shipbuilder said it is also constructing another ASD (azimuth thruster) type tug destined for Russia to support work on dismantling irradiated nuclear submarines belonging to the country’s Navy.
The Vittoria yard’s latest offspring, which has an overall length of 26 meters, width of 10 meters, draught of 3.8 meters and displaces 500 metric tons fully laden, has a bollard pull of 42 metric tons thanks to two ASD azimuth thrusters driven by two semi-fast diesel engines that can develop a total of 3,300 horsepower and give a top speed of 12.5 knots.
The vessel has living quarters and services for a crew of seven and has been classified by the French naval registry Bureau Veritas.
“We are pleased to have delivered to the Algerian authorities our 869th vessel,” said Luigi Duò, president of Vittoria Shipyard. “It is a boat with cutting-edge technology which for us has, above all, a very significant symbolic value, since it marks our return to the tug market, consolidates the relationship of collaboration and mutual respect with the Algerian authorities and strengthens our presence abroad.”
“Something that makes us particularly proud,” Duò continued, “is the fact that the client was able to recognize the know-how of our company, which won the contract after beating off fierce international competition, and that it is now able to appreciate the work done by the yard’s master shipwrights.”
“The capacity to keep the quality of our products high, to respect delivery deadlines and to innovate by investing in research and development, has meant that we are able to move strongly back into the important tug sector. The delivery of this unit, the first tug built at the yard in nearly two decades, strengthens our strategic choice. We are now looking to become an operator of reference, at a domestic and international level, for this sector too.”
