Abu Dhabi Ports has announced the purchase of three new tug boats with a bollard pull power of 30 tonnes.
The new tug boats will service both Musaffah and Zayed Ports and further enhance Abu Dhabi Port’s existing fleet. The two companies that won the public tender are Damen and[ds_preview] Sanmar of Turkey. Damen will deliver one tug boat to Abu Dhabi Marine Services »SAFEEN«. Sanmar Shipyards won a contract for two further tug boats, following a first delivery of a similar unit to SAFEEN in 2016.
Sanmar will deliver its Yenicay-class tugs, based on the same Robert Allan Ltd Rascal 1800 basic design-which. They will service both Mussafah Port and Zayed Port. The first unit will be heading for it’s new home with SAFEEN within a month, whilst the second will be entering service in early 2018. The tugs are ASD configuration with dimensions measuring 18.7 m x 9.2 m and utilise Caterpillar C32 main engines each developing 969 kW at 1,800 rev/min. These drive Veth VZ-900 azimuthing stern thrusters. This arrangement gives a bollard pull of 30 tonnes and a speed ahead of around 12 kn.
Captain Maktoum Al Houqani, Chief Marine Services Officer at Abu Dhabi Marine Services »SAFEEN«, commented: »As part of our ambitious journey, in the past year we have made strong strides to expand our world leading service portfolio. We are entering a phase of expansion in our fleet capacity and capability to better cater to the growth of our ports and its customers. The new tug boats will support our ambition to be the preferred service provider at the centre of the maritime industry.«
Abu Dhabi Ports acts as developer, operator and manager of commercial and community ports within the emirate of Abu Dhabi, as well as Fujairah Terminals and Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD). The contracts were announced during the Sea Trade Offshore Marine & Workboats Middle East 2017 (SOMWE).
Khalifa Port is the flagship port of Abu Dhabi Ports and is considered to be the first semi-automated container port in the region. Abu Dhabi Ports also owns 50% of Abu Dhabi Terminals, which operates and manages Khalifa Port Container Terminal with a full suite of logistics solutions to benefit trade partners and shipping lines. In addition to the current capacity of 2.5 mill. TEUs, the recent deal Abu Dhabi Ports signed with COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited, which is expected to commence operations by 2019, will raise the annual capacity to 6 mill. TEUs in both container terminals.
