The methanol dual-fueled tugs will ship over 115 tonnes of bollard pull, making them Canada’s strongest escort tugs. [Image: Robert Allan Ltd.]
Kotug Canada has chosen Turkey’s Sanmar Shipyards to construct two Robert Allan Ltd. designed twin gas methanol-fueled escort tugs. They will service the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMEP), which extends the Trans Mountain Pipeline to the Pacific. The the 2 RAsalvor 4400-DFM tugs will escort vessels from the harbor limits of the Port of Vancouver to the open ocean by means of the business transport lanes of the Salish Sea. To present this service, Kotug Canada has partnered with Sc’ianew First Nation from Beecher Bay, which is strategically situated alongside the transport route.
The tugs are set to be the world’s first giant purpose-built excessive bollard pull methanol fueled tugs after they enter service in 2025 and can present vital environmental advantages to additional scale back greenhouse fuel (GHG) emissions and underwater radiated noise.
Kotug operates over a dozen Robert Allan Ltd. designed excessive bollard pull harbor and offshore ASD and Advanced Rotortug (ART) vessels internationally.
“We are pleased to work again with Robert Allan Ltd. and look forward to our long-awaited cooperation with Sanmar, which is one of the leading tugboat builders in the world,” mentioned Ard-Jan Kooren, president & CEO of Kotug International and government director of Kotug Canada, a partnership between Kotug International BV and Canada’s Horizon Maritime Services Ltd. “I’m proud that we proceed our lively inexperienced coverage to supply sustainable towage companies by constructing and working two highly effective excessive bollard pull methanol fuelled escort tugs
“The RAsalvor 4400-DFM has been customized to meet the demanding operational and environmental requirements for this project,” mentioned Michael Fitzpatrick, president & CEO of Robert Allan Ltd. “As a company based in Vancouver where these vessels will be operating, we are keenly aware of the crucial role these escort tugs will play going forward.”
The methanol-fueled escort tugs will every measure 44 meters in size and, with over 115 tonnes of bollard pull, shall be Canada’s strongest escort tugs.
Both vessels shall be outfitted with a mechanical cross hyperlink system between the azimuth thrusters to allow a single engine to drive each propellers. They may even be outfitted with essential engine pushed shaft mills to satisfy the vessel’s regular electrical wants. These options will enable the crews to optimize engine loading and considerably scale back gas consumption and working hours of the primary engines and gensets. Combined, these options will scale back the tugs underwater radiated noise, mitigating the results of transport on the Salish Sea’s Southern Resident Killer Whales. Additionally, Kotug is having the hulls of each tugs coated with a graphene paint to scale back biofouling and improve hull-smoothness which reduces underwater radiated noise and makes the vessels extra gas environment friendly. The escort tugs are outfitted with firefighting tools assembly the necessities of ABS’s FFV 1 notation. They may have the most important spill response capabilities of any tugs on the BC coast to mitigate the danger of marine spills to the Salish Sea and communities from laden tankers in addition to different business marine visitors.
Onboard tools will embrace heavy responsibility electrical winches fitted fore and aft for decreased noise and to considerably scale back the danger of a hydraulic oil spill into the setting. The ahead escort system has been personalized to go well with the necessities of the native pilots for tankers using the TMEP. The aft towing system with a twin drum winch with 2 x 1,000 meters of metal wire is among the many largest fitted to an escort tug and mixed with the vessel’s distinctive maneuverability offers the potential to carry out emergency towage of vessels alongside the route that will discover themselves in misery.
Inside, the lodging will embrace spacious devoted cabins and ensuites for all common crew, all with pure mild, and nicely in extra of regulatory requirements. To facilitate coaching and extra response functionality, further berths shall be supplied to be used by Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC) spill response technicians. Particular consideration has been paid to minimizing noise and vibration aboard the vessels, with a crew consolation (habitability) class notation to be assigned by ABS together with ENVIRO and SUSTAIN notations demonstrating the challenge’s decreased environmental affect.
