Biglift’s 2014-built heavy transport ship Happy Star is transporting a cargo of completed newbuild tugboats to South Africa and northern Europe
This 18,374-gt, 156-m ship, with a beam of 29 m, sailing under the flag of the Netherlands, was loaded with 10 tugs in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, in April and is sailing them to Cape Town, South Africa, and then to Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
It was scheduled to arrive in Cape Town on 26 April, according to automatic identification system information, and then Europe in May, according to a tug owner.
It is unclear the name, type, shipbuilder, or ultimate destination and owner of these tugs, but it is highly likely they were all constructed by Damen Shipyards at the Damen Song Cam Shipyard in Vietnam for owners in southern Africa and northern Europe.
One of these tugs will be delivered to Dutch owner Muller Dordrecht, as the owner said it is expecting arrival of En Avant 26 off Happy Star in Rotterdam, in May.
This azimuth stern drive (ASD), 33-m tug was built to Damen’s ASD 3212 design with a beam of 13 m, a draught of 6 m and a bollard pull of 85 tonnes.
Before being loaded onto Happy Star, En Avant 26 completed sea trials, to test its propulsion, manoeuvrability and FiFi1 fire-fighting system.
Sister tug, 2023-built En Avant 25, has two Cat 3516C main diesel engines, two Kongsberg US 255S thrusters and is compliant with IMO Tier III emissions standards.
In is not certain tugs will be unloaded in Cape Town, but likely. Damen was contracted in 2023 to provide newbuild tugboats to South Africa’s Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) as it enhances towage capabilities in two ports in the country.
These seven tugs will support ships visiting the expanding ports of Durban and East London as part of TNPA’s fleet renewal programme. They were scheduled for arrival in South Africa between April and August 2024.
They will have bollard pull of around 60 tonnes, an improvement on the existing tugboats they will replace, where bollard pull ranges between 32 tonnes and 40 tonnes.
Also in April, Damen Song Cam Shipyard launched Volta 1, the first reverse stern drive (RSD) with battery electric propulsion it is building for the Port of Antwerp-Bruges. It could be transported on a future shipment on a heavy cargo transport ship to Belgium once completed.
Damen Shipyards regularly transports completed newbuild tugs to Europe on heavy transport ships, with the last arrival in Rotterdam in February on UHL Finesse, delivering two RSD 2513 tugs and an ASD 2813 vessel from Vietnam. These are operated by Fairplay Towage in Germany and the Netherlands.
Also in the Netherlands, Clots Maritiem increased its fleet of vessels in April by purchasing Fairplay V tractor tug from Fairplay Towage and renaming it Annamarie.
This 1983-built, 27-m tug arrived in the port of Ijmuiden in mid-April with a bollard pull of 28 tonnes and a speed of 12 knots.
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