Tag: tugs

ReCAAP issues Incident Alert re tugs boarded and robbed

APL container ship avoids collision with Navy tugs

Wartsila to supply dual-fuel engines for China s first LNG powered tugs

Tugboat crewman drowned in the River Thames A tugboat crewman drowned in the River Thames in a towing operation where no one had been nominated to be in charge, according to a report.Darren Lacey, 40, was on the tug Chiefton when it capsized and sunk after colliding with the crane barge it was towing in Greenwich, south London.The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said the collision happened after the barge hit a buoy.It said action to avoid the collision was "inappropriate and taken too late"."Chiefton's lack of reserve power and short tow ropes then made collision with the barge inevitable," said the report.The Chiefton was pulling the barge, which had two pilots aboard, while another tug, Steven B, was pushing it.The MAIB said Mr Lacey, an engineer and deckhand from Gravesend, was not wearing a lifejacket when the Chiefton sunk on 12 August last year.'Limited experience' The Chiefton's skipper and mate were rescued from the river."All of those involved had very limited experience with the specific tug configuration used."No one had been nominated to be in overall charge of the towing operation."The MAIB added the Port of London's tow-specific risk assessment and passage plan focused on the bridge transit part ...

Safely crosses Columbia River bar The Coast Guard has been closely monitoring the progress of the Morning Spruce, a 648-foot vessel that lost, then regained, power off the Oregon Coast Sunday.The Morning Spruce successfully crossed the Columbia River bar under escort of the tug Kokua. The Morning Spruce and Kokua were joined by the tug Vancouver near Astoria. Both tug vessels will escort Morning Spruce to Portland, Ore., where the Coast Guard will ensure a proper inspection of the vessel and its recent repairs.Initial plans to anchor the vessel near Astoria were canceled as its draft is too deep to anchor safely.Coast Guard Sector Columbia River, Ore., has been coordinating actions to protect the Oregon Coast and the shores of the Columbia River from any threat posed by the 648-foot, Singapore-flagged car-carrier Morning Spruce that lost all power and was adrift in 12-foot seas, for approximately 4 hours, southwest of the Columbia River entrance Sunday.At approximately 3:30 p.m., Sunday, the Morning Spruce's engineer was able to restore the ship's power. The Coast Guard directed the Morning Spruce to remain offshore until repairs were verified and a tug arrived on scene.The vessel contains approximately 543,000 gallons of heavy, diesel and lube ...

'Loch Rannoch', which delivers oil to the port from the BPcollided with the tug 'Solan' Two new Spanish-built tugs stationed at UK Shetland's oil port of Sullom Voe have been taken out of service, following an incident with one of the tugs with a tanker.Shetland Islands Council (SIC), which operates the port, has launched an investigation and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has been informed of the collision.SIC harbourmaster Roger Moore confirmed to local media that the shuttle tanker 'Loch Rannoch', which delivers oil to the port from the BP operated Schiehallion oil field west of Shetland, collided with the tug 'Solan'.The 'Solan' is one of two 7 mill tugs delivered to the port from a Spanish shipyard in February last year. The vessels are claimed to be two of the most powerful harbour tugs in the world with a bollard pull of 90 tonnes. Crews have said that the tugs have been beset by technical problems since their delivery, local reports said.The latest incident occurred shortly after the ballasted 'Loch Rannoch' left the jetty to return to the oil field.'Solan' was close by the 128,700 dwt tanker and still had a rope attached when she suddenly lost both ...

Tug boat with nine crewon board Indonesian authorities have rescued a tug boat with nine crew believed to have been hijacked in the Straits of Singapore, a sea lane seeing a rise in attacks, an official said on Monday.The boat was recovered on Saturday off Indonesia, said Noel Choong, head of the piracy reporting center of the International Maritime Bureau.It had been towing a barge laden with heavy machinery and piling materials which an Indonesian aircraft and three warships found in the same area a day later, he added.The tug and barge, heading from peninsular Malaysia to Borneo island, last made contact on Dec. 27 off southern Malaysia near the Straits of Singapore before it was hijacked, Choong said."IMB is very pleased with the Indonesian authorities' quick response because of which we managed to recover the tug and barge," he said.Choong urged authorities to step up patrols and ships to be vigilant in the Straits of Singapore, which saw 11 attacks last year, up from three in 2010.Malaysian maritime authorities in October rescued a tanker they said was also hijacked in the straits, which runs between Singapore and Indonesia.In September, a Malaysian court sentenced six Indonesians to 10 years in ...

During the period March-June 2011 The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre issued a Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Special Report on hijacked/missing tug boats and barges in Asia during the period March-June 2011.Five potential incidents were reported, but only three could be confirmed as constituting piracy (one incident) or armed robbery against ships (two incidents). In the first incident, the tug boat and barge remain missing. In the second incident, the barge was found and the crew rescued, but the tug boat remains missing.In the third incident, both the tug boat and barge were recovered and the crew was rescued. Owners and masters of tug boats in Southeast Asia are advised to exercise caution (particularly where the tug boat is relatively new)Source: ReCAAP

But designer says market not yet ready for fuel cell power for harbour tugs IJmuiden-based Iskes Towage & Salvage has ordered two low-emission diesel-electric harbour tugs, designed by Offshore Ship Designers, from Dutch shipbuilder Damen with deliveries scheduled for mid-2013. The design is expected to reduce emissions by 30% compared to conventional, similar-sized harbour tugs now in service.Michiel Wijsmuller, managing director of OSD, says, "The design and demand for this low-emission tug stems from our successful work developing the zero-emission Green Tug design. Iskes was one of the key partners in that project. We can see the market is not yet ready for fuel cell power for harbour tugs, but we can take from the development work other aspects of the design which minimise emissions. This vessel will have a very refined and efficient hull form and a sophisticated power management system which will ensure that the gensets work always at their best efficiency."The 32-metre loa tugs will have a bollard pull of 70 tonnes and will be powered by three diesel gensets driving electric motors mounted over azimuthing propellers aft and a Voith in-line thruster forward. The Azistern 3270 tug design is a further development of the low-emission Azistern ...

Orders worth around 18 million Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, announced orders worth around 18 million for the supply of Azimuth thrusters to power 18 new tugs being built in China.Qingdao and Yingkou Ports will take delivery of 12 new tugs, four of which will be the most powerful operating in China. Tangshan and Tangshan Cao Feidian Ports, located in the He Bei province of Northern China, have also placed orders for a total of six tugs.The 18 vessels will all be equipped with two Rolls-Royce Azimuth thrusters. The thrusters comprise an electric motor and a propeller which, as a combined unit can be rotated horizontally in any direction to manoeuvre the vessel without the need for a rudder.John Zhang, Rolls-Royce, Manager - Merchant, Greater China, said: "The multiple orders received demonstrate how our cutting edge marine technology is applied to meet our customers' evolving requirements. These exceptionally powerful and highly manoeuvrable thrusters are critical to supporting the continued growth of the Chinese tug market, and the important role tugs play in facilitating trade."Such highly powered tugs are new to Chinese ports and are a growing necessity to manoeuvre the largest ships now in operation around the globe. In ...