A low-emissions tugboat has been launched and will become the most powerful tug in the Caribbean
Damen Shipyards has built azimuth stern drive (ASD) tug Plis Fos for operations from a port on the Isle of Martinique in the Caribbean Sea.
This 388-gt tugboat was built at Damen Song Cam shipyard in Vietnam and was lifted from the dock to the quayside 3 May. Following sea trials, it will be sailed on its own keel from the shipyard to begin services for owner Somara at the Port of Fort de France, Martinique.
Plis Fos has two Caterpillar-manufactured main engines delivering combined power of 5,050 kW and driving two azimuth thrusters with 3-m diameter propellers in nozzles.
These provide it with a speed of 13 knots, 85 tonnes of bollard pull ahead and 80 tonnes astern, making Plis Fos the strongest and most modern tug in the Caribbean, according to Damen.
This ASD 2813-design tug has exhaust gas aftertreatment to reduce nitrogen oxides emissions to comply with IMO Tier III standards and to minimise the environmental impact in Martinique waters.
Adding Plis Fos will enable Somara to handle the largest ships entering the Port of Fort de France, will upgrade the region’s towage fleet and improve Somara’s competitive advantage for years ahead.
Somara president Jean Pierre Porry said Plis Fos meets the owner’s performance expectations. “This tug will enable us to follow the needs expressed by our clients and the Grand Port Maritime de la Martinique in terms of bollard pull and in terms of low emissions,” he said.
“Everyone at Somara is looking forward to tug Plis Fos starting its operations.”
Its entry into operations will come on the heels of Somara taking ownership of a new multipurpose workboat Damen delivered this year.
Plis Fos has an overall length of 28-m, a wide beam of 13 m giving it additional stability, a draught of 6 m and fuel storage capacity of 104 m3.
Damen expects this tug to be delivered to Somara at Port of Fort de France in H2 2022.
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