Med Marine holds keel laying ceremony for Svitzer icebreaking tugs
Written by Nick Blenkey
A reminder of the times we live in: participants in keel laying ceremony wear face masks and observe social distancing
Turkish shipbuilder Med Marine held a keel-laying ceremony at its Ereğli Shipyard April 16 for two icebreaking tugboats (hull numbers ER84 & ER85) under construction for Maersk group towing specialist Svitzer.
The two companies signed a newbuilding contract for the tugs last September. They are being built to Robert Allan Ltd’s TundRA 3000 design for tugs operating in extreme winter conditions, which makes them well suited for Svitzer’s North European fleet. Among their distinctive features, the winch is capable of operating over the stern via a trunk running through the deckhouse and is located in an enclosed area to achieve optimum performance even in severe cold weather conditions.
“We are very pleased to achieve this milestone during these difficult times and appreciate Med Marine efforts to continue block production for timely delivery of the two tugs for the Scandinavia fleet to serve our Northern European customers,” said Kim Caspersen, New Building Site Manager for Svitzer. “We are very satisfied with the progress and co-operation until now and looking forward to have the vessels delivered to the highest possible standard and living up to our crew and operational expectations.”
“This prestigious collaboration between Svitzer and Med Marine is very exciting in terms of experiencing operational needs of different locations,” said Ereğli Shipyard’s shipyard manager, Kemal Bektaş. “Our high capacity shipyard is capable of building vessels in versatile sizes and features. We are working meticulously on ER84 & ER85 and they will be well-suited for Svitzer’s Scandinavian fleet.”
The TundRA 3000 design has following design particulars:
- Length overall: 30 m
- Hull beam : 12.6 m
- Extreme beam (including fenders): 13.2 m
- Depth molded: 5.7 m
- Maximum draft: 5.6 m
- Gross tonnage: <500 GT
- Minimum bollard pull: 60 ton
- Power: Approx. 3,900 kW
