Multraship, Alfons Håkans, Seacontractors and Fairplay Towage have added to their fleets while striving to reduce emissions in northern Europe
European tug owners and towage providers have tackled key challenges in the past few years and continue to invest in new vessels to modernise fleets. Challenges included tackling the energy transition, ensuring tug fleets are fit for future demands, reducing the carbon intensity of operations and retaining well-trained crews.
Multraship Towage & Salvage added two emergency rescue and towing vessels (ERTVs), two harbour tugs and a salvage support vessel to its fleet in 2022, after winning emergency response contracts and to meet the rising demand for ship handling, harbour towage and oceangoing services.
The Terneuzen, Netherlands-headquartered towage and salvage company is part of the Muller Maritime Group, jointly owned by the Muller family and Hamburg-based Fairplay Towage.
Its core activities include harbour and terminal towage, salvage, ocean towage and services to the offshore energy and dredging industries. Groupwide, it currently operates 67 vessels including multipurpose tugs, specialised salvage craft, floating sheerlegs, ERTVs, workboats and line-handling vessels.
Five vessels were added to the fleet in 2022, says Multraship managing director Leendert Muller. ERTVs Multraship Commander and Multraship Protector were acquired from ALP Maritime Services.
“Our ERTVs are poised and positioned to respond at any time,” Mr Muller tells International Tug & Salvage. Multraship won the tender to supply two ERTVs to the Netherlands Coastguard to monitor shipping safety in the southern section of the North Sea in 2022.
ALP Ace, built 2006, was renamed Multraship Commander and stationed at the Borssele windfarm. Multraship Protector, formerly 2007-built ALP Ippon, is on standby at the Hollandse Kust windfarm. Both windfarms are surrounded by shipping lanes and anchorage areas, presenting a risk to passing maritime traffic and support vessels.
Multraship has deployed ERTV Guardian in Den Helder to monitor shipping safety in the northern section of the North Sea since 2016.
“With our three ERTV’s on contract to cover much of the Dutch North Sea, we provide crucial emergency response capability for a wide range of potential incidents,” says Mr Muller.
“The vessels can respond 24/7 from their strategic positions to provide assistance to drifting vessels and vessels in distress to prevent damage to vessels and the windfarms and to take any people in distress on board.” All are ready for search and rescue operations, fire-fighting and emergency towage.
In 2022, Multraship took delivery of azimuth stern drive (ASD) tug Multratug 6 from Damen Shipyards. This 29-m, 293-gt tug was built to Damen’s ASD 2810 design with a bollard pull of 61 tonnes and a top speed of 14 knots. This Bureau Veritas-classed ship has a FiFi1 fire-fighting system, a hydraulically driven, two-speed winch and Heila HLM 20-3S crane. Its propulsion consists of twin Cat 3516C TA main engines producing total power of 3,730 kW at 1,600 rpm, driving two Kongsberg US 205 thrusters with fixed-pitch propellers.
Multraship also added 2020-built, Bureau Veritas-classed ASD tug Multratug 9 to the fleet. This 29-m, 293-gt tugboat has a beam of 10 m, FiFi1 fire-fighting system, 61 tonnes of bollard pull and a maximum draught of around 5 m.
In 2022, Multi Cat 2613-design Multrasalvor 6 was added after its purchase from Damen. This Bureau Veritas-classed, 26-m vessel has a beam of 14 m, maximum draught of almost 4 m and 50 tonnes of bollard pull.
“We are always on the lookout for new tonnage should there be a requirement from our customers, particularly as market requirements change and evolve to service growth segments, such as offshore wind installations,” says Mr Muller.
“As a family-owned enterprise, we benefit from short lines of reporting and are able to make investment decisions, or any decisions relating to the optimisation of our fleet, quickly.”
Multraship can adapt to its customers’ requirements and ensure it is always best equipped and able to respond rapidly to emergencies off the Dutch coast or in the River Scheldt, a major shipping route to the busy port of Antwerp, Belgium. Its tugs have already assisted a grounded product tanker and a grounded inland barge this year. Most recently, Multrasalvor 6 refloated a grounded fishing vessel off the Dutch Coast near Stellendam.
Growth and challenges
“The DNA of our company is that we are always on station; always ready for an intervention or response,” says Mr Muller. “We have responded to a wide range of call-outs already this year. We are always prepared to provide oil spill response or fire-fighting capabilities.”
Multraship has grown strong relationships with regional and maritime authorities, other tug owners, service partners and peers. “We have a proven track record of being able to provide the most rapid and flexible response,” he adds.
Business for harbour towage, supporting offshore operations and offshore windfarm development has increased, leading Multraship to train 75 new recruits and expand its fleet, but it still faces challenges to reduce emissions and its environmental footprint.
“For all tug owners and operators, as well as our customers, a key challenge is responding to the energy transition and ensuring our fleet is fit for the future,” says Mr Muller.
“We have always been and want to remain on the front-foot as a service provider. We are willing and able to make changes and are working with partners and peers to find the right way forward for the longer term.”
There is an ongoing project to transition the Multraship fleet to use fuels with less carbon intensity. “Where possible, we are implementing fuel reduction programmes and looking into electric propulsion for harbour towage operations,” says Mr Muller.
“We are trying to find the right mix of fuel and propulsion types for what is a very diverse fleet, while finding ways of overcoming limitations to availability and alternative fuel capabilities in smaller regional ports.”
Another challenge is ensuring its crews are trained to use the latest technology and equipment as new assets are added to improve operations and meet increasing demand from clients.
“We have invested significantly in our training facilities and capabilities during this time, with state-of-the art equipment and technology significantly enhancing our operations,” says Mr Muller.
“Ensuring we continue to attract the best talent is of course a key priority, as we recognise that investment in people has and will always be central to our success.”
Baltic towage
Finnish tug owner Alfons Håkans is growing its fleet by acquiring secondhand tugboats from other owners and modernising onboard systems.
Its business and operations have been impacted by the war in Ukraine and resulting international sanctions, but there are growing opportunities for supporting LNG imports and the offshore renewables industry in the Baltic.
Alfons Håkans’s main operations are harbour towage and ice management in Finland, Estonia and Latvia with a fleet of 23 azimuth stern drive (ASD) tugs, 14 conventional tugs, two combi tugs and one tractor tug. “We also have long-term contracts for two vessels with the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency for ice breaking during the winter seasons,” says Alfons Håkans manager for health, safety, security, environment and quality Kimmo Lehto.
This fleet was bolstered in 2023 with the addition of two tugs Alfons Håkans purchased from Svitzer. Svitzer Björn has been renamed Björn and was sailed from Sweden to Hanko, Finland mid-April. This 1991-built, 356-gt tug has an overall length of 33 m and a beam of 11 m.
Svitzer Helios was renamed Victoria when it arrived in Finland in April. This 304-gt, 1973-built tug has an overall length of 33 m, beam of 10 m and a draught of 5 m.
These older tugs may require upgrading and modernising, which Alfons Håkans has gained experience with when working with Steerprop on two recent projects.
This year, Steerprop will supply a new control system for the propulsion units on 297-gt tug Dunker to extend its service life during a retrofit project scheduled to be undertaken Q4 2023. In 2021, Steerprop supplied new control systems for an upgrade retrofit of ASD tug Artemis.
Most of Alfons Håkans’s tugboat fleet has ice class to 1A, especially those with bollard pulls of more than 35 tonnes. Its three ice-breaking anchor handling tugs – Hermes, Thetis and Zeus of Finland – have 1A Super ice class.
Its ice-breaking tugs Helios and Selene have the highest bollard pull of the tugboat fleet at 67 tonnes. Five other tugs have bollard pulls of more than 60 tonnes and four more of over 50 tonnes.
Capt Lehto says tugboat operations were affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as this cut cargo shipments from the Baltic to Russia.
“Transit cargoes to and from Russia are close to zero because of the sanctions and no one knows how long this situation will continue,” he says. “There used to be oil and chemical transit cargoes through all the countries where we operated before Russia invaded Ukraine.”
But the Finnish owner is looking at upcoming opportunities to branch out from harbour operations into new markets. It is now supporting LNG imports via a new floating storage and regasification unit in Inkoo, Finland. “LNG carriers require four tugs on arrival and departure,” says Capt Lehto.
“We are looking for new opportunities in the offshore renewable energy sector and, at the same time, are improving the energy efficiency of our harbour tugs.” This includes using shore power if this is available in ports and considering tug retrofits.
UK expansion
Seacontractors has opened an office in the UK and modernised the fleet in the past year to improve its marine and construction support operations. It has a presence in several major civil construction projects in northern Europe and a fleet of vessels supporting offshore and marine developments in the Middle East, managed through its office in Dubai, UAE.
Seacontractors operates a fleet of 11 Damen-built Shoalbusters, six multipurpose support vessels (MPV), four anchor-handling tugs and HST Hazel, a Multicat 2309 design vessel.
“With the opening of our office in the UK in 2022, we also added six vessels from MTS to our fleet, which consisted of five Shoalbusters and one Stan tug,” says Seacontractors commercial manager for towage and offshore Lisa de Bruijne-Kuiper.
“Having a modern and efficient fleet can be a key factor in winning contracts and attracting new clients.”
Seacontractors sold some of its older vessels – Sea Alfa, Sea Bravo, Sea Charlie and Sea Delta – to make way for the newer vessels. “Investing in newer vessels can help us maintain a competitive edge and meet the evolving needs of clients,” says Ms de Bruijne-Kuiper.
This year, the company hopes to add a new EuroCarrier 2712 design vessel, with dynamic positioning to DP1 class, from Dutch builder Neptune Marine.
Seacontractors will also invest in equipment to improve safety and security and reduce its environmental footprint. “We will need to keep investing in safety measures and security protocols to protect our employees, vessels and cargo,” says Ms de Bruijne-Kuiper, adding that market volatility, environmental regulations and geopolitical events create challenges for the company.
“The maritime industry is facing increasing pressure to reduce its environmental impact, with new regulations around emissions, waste disposal and other areas. This can add costs and regulatory compliance challenges,” she explains.
“These operational and business challenges require us to stay agile, innovative and adaptable to maintain our position as a leading global maritime service provider.”
Expansion in the UK paid off as Seacontractors is supporting Osprey Group and EDF on the construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, southwest England. Its two 2006-built vessels escorted and manoeuvred an Osprey Group barge, Isobel Rose, loaded with the 500-tonne cylindrical nuclear reactor in March 2023. A second nuclear reactor is scheduled to arrive later in 2023.
The 13-m long reactor pressure vessel arrived in Avonmouth and was loaded onto the barge transport to Combwich Wharf on the River Parrett. MPV Sea Bronco, a 230-gt, 26-m tug with 27 tonnes of bollard pull, was the lead on the barge tow, supported at the aft by 123-gt, 23-m Shoalbuster MTS Valour (24 tonnes bollard pull). Both manoeuvred Isobel Rose into the dock to offload the nuclear reactor.
Before this project, Sea Bronco assisted Herbosch-Kiere Marine Contractors for two years with the reconstruction of the breakwater in Klaipeda, Lithuania.
Seacontractors also works on the 18-km Fehmarnbelt Tunnel project between northern Germany and Lolland, Denmark with onward links to the Danish island of Zealand and Copenhagen.
Shoalbusters’ 2008-built MTS Valiant (40 tonnes bollard pull) and 2007-built Sea Echo (24 tonnes bollard pull) worked on the project, assisting with towing and pushing barges in 2021 and 2022. They also handled anchors, positioned barges, completed shallow-water operations, completed crew changes and relocated buoys for the Fehmarnbelt tunnel construction.
“By the end of 2023 we also expect MTS Vanquish to work on this project for the next two to three years,” says Ms de Bruijne-Kuiper. Anchor-handling 2013-built tug MTS Vanquish has 65 tonnes of bollard pull, and its scope includes towing tunnel elements, immersion pontoons, spreader, protection and multipurpose pontoons and rock barges.
Newbuild additions
Fairplay Towage added two new tugs to its fleet in April after their arrival on a heavy-transport vessel from Haiphong, Vietnam. Fairplay 90 and Fairplay 91 tugboats were unloaded from Lone, along with an ASD tug newbuild for Svitzer Europe, in in Rotterdam, the Netherlands at the start of April. All three were built by Damen Shipyards.
Fairplay 90 and Fairplay 91 are reverse stern drive (RSD) tugs built to Damen’s RSD 2513 design with an overall length of 25 m, beam of 13 m and depth of 5 m. At 330-gt, the tugs have a draught of 6 m and two Caterpillar 3516C TA HD/D main engines with total power of 5,050 kW at 1,800 rpm driving two Kongsberg Maritime US 255 thrusters with fixed-pitch propellers with a diameter of 3,000 mm.
In Rotterdam, both RSD tugs were tested, inspected and made safe for the voyage to Hamburg, where the naming ceremony will take place. Fairplay says these tugs are part of its strategy to reduce its environmental impact. “The group has recently ordered a series of newbuildings, which will help to reduce our CO2 footprint with highly efficient tug designs.”
In Q4 2022, Fairplay Towage took delivery of Fairplay 37 from Damen to support port and offshore renewables in Poland. This 27-m tug was built to Damen’s Shoalbuster 2711 ICE design, with a bollard pull of 47 tonnes and propulsion complying with IMO Tier III.
Fairplay is in the middle of a project to rename tugs that were part of the Bugsier fleet, with the latest, tractor tug Wolf, renamed Fairplay-64 before it is returned to the Brunsbüttel Locks of the Kiel Canal.
Svitzer Jubilee was built to Damen’s ASD 2312 design with an overall length of 23 m, beam of 12 m and draught of around 5 m. It is destined to begin operations northeast England, UK, Q2 2023.
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