Damen delivers for two Dutch tug owners
Netherlands-based Damen Shipyards is completing the delivery of two pairs of particularly popular ASD tugs from its portfolio to two well-established domestic tug owners located just 120km apart in Dordrecht and Terneuzen.
Muller Dordrecht and Terneuzen-based Multraship Towage & Salvage are no stranger to Damen’s tugs and have chosen the shipbuilder’s ASD Tug 3212 to strengthen their fleet with two apiece, either delivered as deck cargo or sailing under their own keel from Damen’s facility in Vietnam.
The latest development in the process has seen the second of Muller’s pair En Avant 26, christened in Dordrecht, and follows the first vessel, En Avant 25, delivered in 2023. En Avant 26 was transported from Haiphong, Vietnam to Rotterdam as deck cargo on board BigLift Shipping’s heavy-lift vessel Happy Star.
Damen describes the ASD Tug 3212 as the ‘flagship’ of its ASD range, providing a bollard pull of over 80 tons. It is capable of handling large ships in harbours as well as carrying out offshore work, with power provided by Caterpillar 3516C main engines developing 3,840kW (5,220hp) in total and propulsion via Kongsberg US 255 thrusters delivering a vessel speed of 13.6kn.
For En Avant 26, a bollard pull of 88.7 tons is quoted, with declared performances in escorting mode of 78 tons maximum steering force and 90 tons maximum breaking force.
The IMO Tier III certified vessel has a large aft deck, home to a DMC towing winch together with an open stern, hydraulic towline guide pins, deck crane and a support boat. A DMC towing/escort winch is provided forward.
Modifications include a winterisation package for operations in high latitudes, including additional insulation, heated windows and a system where engine heat is used to heat the accommodation.
This will enable the vessel to operate in the Baltic Sea year-round if required, as well as in the waters of western and southern Europe. Today, Muller has six Damen-built vessels in its 15-strong fleet.
Multraship pair
Meanwhile Multraship is also welcoming two ASD Tugs 3212s into its own fleet. Multratug 35 is now in service, currently in the River Scheldt region with its own christening following hot on the heels of a similar ceremony for two earlier Damen tugs, the ASD Tug 2810 Multratug 6 and the smaller Stan Tug 1205 Multratug 5.
The second of the pair of ASD Tug 3212s, Multratug 36 is making its own way from Vietnam by sea and is due in the Netherlands imminently.
As with Muller’s vessels of the same design, Multratug 35 is equipped for both shiphandling and open sea towage, with DMC towing winches forward and aft together with the usual outfit of deck machinery befitting a tug of this class.
The BV-classed vessel includes Escort Tug, Green Passport and Fire-Fighting 1 in its notation with maximum bollard pull quoted as 89.5 tons. Its machinery arrangement is similar to En Avant 26, comprising a twin Caterpillar 3516C/Kongsberg US 255 main engine and thruster combination.
Accommodation for 10 persons is provided in single and twin occupancy cabins.
