Silverburn Shipping adds ice class anchor handling tug

DECEMBER 27, 2012—London-based Silverburn Shipping recently added the Arctic, a 4,400 hp Ice Class 1A anchor handling tug, to its fleet of 25 tugs and barges.

Built by Turkey’s Sefine Shipyard, the Arctic is 49.6m x 15.8m, with a draft of 3.5m for sea-going operations and a 2.5m draft for operation in shallow waters such as those in the Northern Caspian Sea.

Propulsion power for the tug is supplied by two 2,200-hp Cummins QSK60-M Tier 2 engines, each rated at1,641 kW at 1,800 rev/min. The 4,400-hp tug can deliver a 50-ton bollard pull. The engines turn four-blade controllable –pitch propellers via Reintjes marine gears.

Design work for the Arctic included tank model testing at Aker Arctic to confirm that the hull form was capable of performing to Finnish and Swedish Ice Class 1A Super standards.  The tug can operate in ice up to 80 centimeters thick.

In addition to the 60-liter Cummins main engines, the new tug has two Cummins KTA19-Cps (335 kW) generator sets providing electrical power for ship power, as well as the electro-hydraulic cranes and winches. The harbor genset is a Cummins 6CT-UCM (113 kW) and emergency power is from a Cummins 6C-CS (w26 kW) genset. All generator sets are fitted with Newage alternators, produced by Cummins Generator Technologies.

Two 650 kW firefighting pumps for the vessel’s Fi-Fi-1 System are each powered by a clutch-connected PTO to the front of the main engines.

The Arctic classed by Burueau Veritas as BV HULL MACH TUG FiFi I AUT-UMS Ice class 1A Unrestricted Navigation.

The Arctic builds on the success of the Tarpan and Tur, a pair of 42×12.5-meter Ice Class 1B tugs added to Silverburn Shipping’s fleet in 2009. These tugs were each powered by three 1,700-hp Cummins KTA50-M2 engines to deliver 50 tons of bollard pull.

Alexey Gribachev, Technical Superintendent of Silverburn, says, “We currently have 12 Cummins engines on board our vessels. For our service engineers it is easier to operate, maintain and order spare parts for a vessel that is powered by one engine brand. This way, we can transfer our Cummins-experienced engineers to these new vessels, where their experience is used most effectively.”

The Cummins global network is also an asset for a vessel that could be chartered worldwide.  Applications engineer Baran Kucukkara, from Cummins Turkey, provided support to the Sefine Shipyard during construction. “We have shared out knowledge and experiences as well as Cummins requirements about the total sub-systems including mounting, electrical, fuel, lube oil, cooling and related design criteria,” he explained, “This included sharing of data sheets, installation drawings, wiring diagrams and various instructions.”