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Multraship tugs support decommissioning vessel's port entry
Up to six tugs were required to dock a self-elevating jack-up vessel in a Dutch port in February 2026, to enable offshore structures to be decommissioned
Multraship Towage & Salvage helped to tow and position heavy‑lift jack‑up platform Obana in a Dutch North Sea port in February 2026, where it will support decommissioning projects.
Three Multraship tugs were involved in its sea towage, Obana’s entry into Vlissingen harbour, and docking at Dixstone Yard, where it will process decommissioned offshore structures.
Petrodec’s Obana combines two former drilling rigs, Brage and Gabrus, into a single six‑legged jack‑up unit, with an overall length of 206 m and a beam of 76 m.
During the sea towage, 2018-built Multratug 29 joined Obana while it waited to enter the port. From Westpit onwards, the operation was scaled up, with 2014-built Multratug 28 and 2018-built Multratug 32 joining Multratug 29 to assist an anchor handling tug in towing Obana into the port.
“In total, six tugs were required to manoeuvre Obana in a controlled manner towards the quay,” the Dutch tug owner added.
“Given the size of Obana in relation to the available berthing space, this was a non‑standard operation requiring careful co-ordination, clear communication and the full focus of all parties involved.”
Obana was built at Damen’s Botlek repair yard in Rotterdam as a self-elevating jack-up vessel with a 2,000-tonne crane and embedded skidding tracks to remove platform topsides and jackets of up to 8,000 tonnes.
In Q4 2025, Obana removed offshore structures operated by Perenco in the UK sector of the southern North Sea. The topsides and jacket of the Galahad platform and three jackets from the Amethyst field were removed in the operation.
In January, Multraship tugs helped tow the final concrete caisson for the Belgian Princess Elisabeth energy island being built in the North Sea.
Jan De Nul Group has constructed and floated the remaining concrete structures for the world’s first artificial energy island at its site in Vlissingen. It was loaded onto a barge and then towed by several Multraship tugs to the Scaldia terminal, where the caissons are being prepared to be towed and installed offshore in Q2 2026.
The 28th International Tug & Salvage Convention, Exhibition & Awards will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden, in association with Caterpillar, 19-21 May 2026. Use this link for more details of this industry event and the associated social and networking opportunities.
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