Escort tug fleet constructed for Kotug and BP's offshore LNG project

Kotug International will soon add to its growing fleet of escort tugs operating at offshore tanker terminals with the addition of Turkish-built vessels.

Construction of the terminal tugs at Uzmar Shipyard is in its final stage with hulls complete and outfitting well underway. Uzmar is building three stern-drive tugs to a Robert Allan Ltd RAstar 3200W design with a bollard pull of over 83 tonnes.

These 32-m tugs have total onboard power of 5,120 kW, FiFi1 fire-fighting systems, accommodation for 10 crew members and equipment for oil recovery. Their propulsion will consist of twin high-speed, four-stroke diesel engines and two azimuth Z drives on the stern.

Kotug took delivery of the first RAstar 3200W tug, SD Waalo, which is operating out of Dakar in Senegal, in September 2024 and expects delivery of the other three in Q2 2025.

For this project, Prism Marine is supporting Uzmar with a shipyard team providing quality control, inspections, testing and commissioning services.

According to an earlier statement from Kotug, these escort tugs will go on long-term charter to BP’s Greater Tortue Ahmeyim offshore project in West Africa. This development spans Mauritania and Senegal with an ultra-deepwater subsea system connected to a floating production storage and offloading vessel, which will process the gas and liquids, then pump the gas through a 35-km pipeline to a floating LNG production, storage and offloading facility, where it will be transferred to LNG carriers.