Tug Malta to get more tugs

Tug Malta has ordered two tugs costing over EUR50m in all and aims to develop offshore services in North African countries, and in the Mediterranean in general.

Rimorchiatori Riuniti SpA of Genoa, Italy, which last July took majority shareholding in Tug Malta Ltd from the government, described the contracts as important decisions to establish Tug Malta as a leading player in the central Mediterranean and beyond, as far as towage and ancillary services are concerned.

Tug Malta operated successfully for a number of years, and in 2006 took delivery of two powerful 68-tonne bollard pull tugs, newly built for the company by Damen Shipyards of The Netherlands. The new orders have been placed with European yards. The first vessel is an 80 tons bollard pull harbour / escort/ anchor handling tug primarily designed to operate in the Maltese harbours and their approaches. The vessel is due to be delivered in December 2008, and will be equipped with Voith Schneider propulsion and twin MAK main engines able to give a total power of 7,180 bhp.

The second vessel, an Anchor Handling Supply Vessel with delivery due in April 2010, is a MOSS 424 Mark III design with a DWT of 3,100 tons, and will be equipped with four main engines (Bergen) with a power of 19,000 bhp able to give a bollard pull of about 210 tonnes. The vessel will also be equipped with a Fire Fighting system Class 2, DP 2 capability and oil recovery capability, in order to match the technical/operational requirements coming from offshore operators.