Emergency response enhanced in Turkish Straits

Marine emergency response around Turkey has been enhanced with delivery of the first of two new tugboats.

Authorities have increased their preparations for responding to distressed ships in the Turkish Straits with the addition of 75-tonne bollard pull tugs.

The Turkish Directorate General of Coastal Safety received the first of these in March from a shipyard in Ereğli, Turkey.

They will operate in the Bosphorus Strait to assist ships travelling between the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea.

The 32-m tugs' propulsion consists of six-cylinder Wärtsilä 26 engines, WST-24 steerable thrusters and Wärtsilä ProTouch propulsion remote control systems.

Their bollard pull was certified at 75 tonnes by the Türk Loydu classification society. The first tug was delivered in March and the second is due in April.

Med Marien, which builds tugs at the Ereğli Shipyard, has delivered a new tugboat to Colombian towage and salvage company, Coltugs. This 32-m azimuth stern drive (ASD) tug, named Caño Cristales, is being mobilised to Colombia to improve terminal operations.

Coltugs, a joint venture between ports and towage company Coremar and tugboat owner Ultratug, will use the ASD tug to escort and support larger ships berthing in Colombian ports.

Caño Cristales was built to a Robert Allan Ramparts 3200 design and RINA class as an escort and salvage, green tug with fire-fighting and oil recovery equipment.

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This 476-gt vessel has an overall beam of 11.6 m, a loaded draught of 4.19 m, a free sailing speed of 12.0 knots and bollard pull of more than 75 tonnes.

Caño Cristales has a pair of CAT 3516C D-rated diesel engines that develop a total output of 4,200 kW driving two Schottel SRP1515 azimuthing thrusters with controllable pitch propellers of 260 cm diameter.

Shipping safety, emergency response and vessel emissions will be discussed at Riviera Maritime Media's Sulphur Cap 2020 Conference, Awards and Exhibition, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in May.