Rescue always on hand

China?s Yantai Raffles shipyard has delivered an emergency towing vessel to the UK?s Klyne Tugs for operation by the UK?s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). The vessel will provide emergency response cover in the waters surrounding the British Isles. The MCA has four vessels on charter from Klyne Tugs stationed to respond to emergencies in the Dover Straits, the Minches, the Western Approaches and the Fair Isle Channel.

Latest ship

The new ship, called

Anglian Princess

, is based on a Rolls Royce Marine UT719-T design. It is a development of the basic UT719 platform, of which seven vessels have been built to date as multi-functional tug supply vessels, with a further three on order. Two more have been built under the UT719-R label as field safety standby vessels.

Anglian Princess

was ordered before Klyne Tugs won a £75 million ($117 million) eight-year contract from the MCA, in October 2001, to supply it with four emergency response vessels. The MCA therefore had no input in the initial design explains Carl Beare, managing director of Klyne Tugs. It has been possible though to move the accommodation further aft than it is in the standard design. A sister vessel, Anglian Sovereign, is scheduled for delivery on March 15.

Beare says Klyne is considering another new vessel to operate under its MCA contract. He says a decision is yet to be made regarding design or builder. “It won?t be a UT719 though,” he says. He explains that this is not for operational reasons but that “things that have come up during the build”.

Toby Stone, the MCA?s head of counter pollution and response, says the organisation?s experience has shown that anchor handling designs are better suited to its purpose as they have large aft decks able to accommodate pollution equipment and which can also be used in the evacuation of passengers. “They have proved their worth in countless incidents,” says Stone.

Anglian Princess

has a bollard pull of about 180t. It is optimised for towing and anchor handling and also has a substantial supply capacity and a FiFi 1 firefighting outfit. It is 67.4m long and has a beam of 15.5m and a design draught of 5.2m. It is built to Lloyd?s Register class.

Two Wärtsilä 16V 32LND engines totalling 6,000kW turn Kamewa Ulstein CP propellers in nozzles backed by independent high lift rudders. These are aided by two 600kW Kamewa Ulstein tunnel thrusters at the bow and a 900kW unit at the stern.

A main towing winch from Rauma Brattvaag has a towing drum rated for 270t pull and that can hold 1,500m of 76mm wire rope. Two anchor handling drums are rated at 300t, with a brake holding load of 430t on the first layer. Drum capacity is 1,200m of 76mm wire. Other Rauma Brattvaag deck machinery includes a pennant/ store reel, a spare wire drum, capstans, tugger winches, a 500t stern roller, towing pins, shark jaws and a double anchor/mooring winch.

Anglian Princess

will fly the British Flag with respect to the latest rules and regulations from SOLAS 1974 with amendments in force.

The wheelhouse of the vessel is built with a commanding and unrestricted view, complementing up to 20 men with accommodation of 17 cabins. The navigation equipment is assembled from the latest technology with proven records on stability and functionality. This entire infrastructure of

Anglian Princess

is built in mind to function in all weather conditions, while ensuring efficiency and comfort for both crew and vessel.

Unique operation

Stone explains that operation of the ETV?s is unique in that although the vessels are chartered to the MCA, they can go off-hire to offer assistance under Lloyd?s Open Forum (LOF) conditions, something the MCA encourages. The tugs can sometimes be called in to effect a tow even if an owner and insurer refuse a LOF because their primary job is that of pollution prevention. The UK?s Secretary of State intervenes and offers either intervention or direction. “We do routinely what ever we have to do,” says Stone.

Stone says the vessels have four roles with the primary one being pollution prevention. The second is passive escorting, such as through the Minches. The third and fourth roles are for traffic surveillance, particularly in Scotland, and search and rescue.

The tug operating in the Dover Straits is 50% shared with the French and is under operational control of the UK Coastguard or the French coastguard depending on its position. Stone explains that it always has a French liaison officer onboard that can speak English and that joint exercises are carried out.

Stone says the MCA is looking at improving counter pollution measures by fitting some form of containment system with absorbent booms etc. He explains that each vessel will be equipped with a basic package.

Klyne Tugs is also looking at using Dyneema ropes, which are considerably lighter than steel cables. These ropes float and are more resistant to shock loading, which causes cables to break in rough seas. However, they cost about £30,000 per cable and need careful treatment if they are to last more than one tow. Beare says a quick connection is achievable as the rope can be floated across.

The Irish government is currently looking at the role of the emergency towing vessel. This could represent the next big contract opportunity for Klyne in this field.

Fly by wire

The MCA also has a procedure for effecting a tow by helicopter, which involves the helicopter passing a tow line to another ship. Normal SAR role equipment includes a hi-line (heaving in line of 10mm braided nylon), attached to the winch hook by a karabiner and a weak link assembly and a swivel between two karabiners attached to the weighted end. The helicopter winch operator must ensure that the hi-line is sufficiently weighted, so as to remain visible during the procedure. A knife should also be available in case of emergency and a Cyalume lightstick should be used during night operations.

Ideally the emergency towing vessel should maintain a position ahead, upwind and as close as is safely possible to the vessel receiving the tow (usually within 75m). However, because of wind direction, tide and the vessel?s proximity to the shore, this is not always possible. The helicopter has to face into the wind.

The helicopter lowers the hi-line to the tug crew who attach a Geolon messenger (a lightweight 8mm rope of some 220m). The helicopter then takes this to the receiving vessel where the crew attach it to a winch to pull over the heavier tow line. If the receiving vessel has no winch power, the helicopter takes over the middle of the Geolon messenger, which is wrapped around a suitable bollard.

The tug crew then uses its winch to pull the remaining Geolon messenger onboard the receiving vessel followed by a suitable tow line. The helicopter winch operator can immediately cut the hi-line with a J knife, or in extreme circumstances, the helicopter captain may opt to cut the winch wire using an explosive cutting device fitted to the winch.

Anglian Princess

Built 2001 Yantai Raffles Shipyard Shandong, China

Registered Lowestoft

Call Sign ZNUW3

Classification Lloyds + 100A1 + LMC, UMS

Gross Tonnage 2258

NRT 677

Deadweight 1800

Lightship 2272.586

Crew 11

Dimensions

LOA 67.40 metres

Breadth 15.50 metres

Depth 7.50 metres

Draught max 6.20 metres

Deck capacity

Deck cargo 700 tonnes

Deck area 344 sq metres

Deck loading 10t sq metre aft of frame 23 otherwise 5/m2

Deck Breadth 12.60 metres

Deck Length 27.30 metres

Propulsion

Main engines Two Wartsila 16V 32LND

BHP 16500/12000 KW driving two controllable pitch propellers in fixed nozzles

Steering Gear Tenfjord SR 662 Ulstein independently/

synchronised controlled twin high lift rudders

Thrusters Bowthrusters 2 electrically driven 9 tonnes/ 588KW each

Sternthrusters 1 electrically driven 8 tonnes/660KW

Speed ? fuel 17 knots @ 45 tonnes/day

consumption 12 knots @ 24 tonnes/day

Fuel and fresh water capacity

Fuel MGO 1200 m3

Potable water 420 m3

Delivery pumps rated at 100 m3/hr

Deck equipment 2 x 10 tonne hydraulic tugger winches

1 deck crane SWL 3 tonne @ 15 metres and ROV approved

2 x 10 tonne hydraulic capstans aft

180 m3 chain lockers

2 spray booms with 5 tonne tank for dispersant

1 Fast rescue boat

Towing and anchor Triple drum Brattvag 300 tonnes hydraulic handling equipment winch with 450 tonnes brake holding

Each drum capable of holding 1500 metres towing

2 x 1500 metres Anchor Handling

Fitted with non-declutchable 3.25″cable lifters port & starboard