Asian navies expand tug capacity with newbuildings

A third harbour tug was ordered in October for the Navy of Pakistan and the Indian Navy has taken delivery of harbour tugs in the last four months.

Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KS&EW) in Pakistan was already building two tugs for the Pakistan Navy when it signed a contract for a third azimuth stern drive (ASD) tug on 22 October.

Damen Technical Co-operation will supply this package to KS&EW including the ASD 2009 design for a 20-m tug with a beam of 9 m and various parts.

The contract was signed on behalf of KS&EW by general manager for shipbuilding Commodore Saleem Iqbal SI and by Damen regional director Teun Haverkort.

Progress has been made with the first two ASD 2009 tugs following a steel cutting ceremony held on 11 October at the shipyard. These are expected to be completed in H2 2020.

Damen said the ASD 2009 tug is “a proven, standardised design featuring excellent seakeeping behaviour, manoeuvrability and towing characteristics”.

KS&EW and Damen have worked together since 1988 to successfully deliver numerous vessels to clients in Pakistan.

In India, Hindustan Shipyard is building tugs for the Indian Navy. Three of these were delivered in 2019. These were named Hindustan 188, Avtar and Hindustan 189.

Also in India, Adani group is boosting its fleet of harbour tugs with vessels built by Kanagawa Zosen shipyard in Japan. One of these, named Dolphin 27, entered service in Q3 2019. Another seven 34.5-m tugs are scheduled for delivery between Q3 2020 and Q4 2021.

In Bangladesh, PT Citra Jahari shipyard is building four harbour tugs for PT Jasa Armada and Khulna Shipyard is constructing two harbour tugs for an undisclosed owner, according to BRL Shipping Consultants.