With catamaran-like dimensions of 25 metres by 12 metres, this brilliant new harbour tug well illustrates the ever-developing benefits of the Robert Allan Ltd/Med Marine partnership. This very adaptable tug will be perfect for a comparatively small port such as Kingston in Jamaica.
"The tug is the first in its series to enter service outside of Europe, so it represents an expansion in the reach of this design and build and shows that a product can work in a variety of locations," Robert Allan Ltd (RAL) told Baird Maritime.
"It is a versatile, multi-purpose, compact and state-of-the-art ASD design that boasts efficient ship-handling, coastal towing, and other general-purpose towing capabilities," added builder Med Marine.
The development of the tug encountered some challenges aside from the supply restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. For RAL, it was the fact that the vessel was built for a customer operating under a different flag state, so the design therefore needed to be verified against a new set of flag state rules.
"Because our designs generally exceed the requirements of class and flag States, we had no issues meeting the new requirements."
RAL and Med Marine agree that decarbonisation is becoming more important over time in both ship design and shipbuilding.
"More than 60 per cent of the tug design contracts we have been awarded in the past 12 months have involved some combination of IMO Tier III/US EPA Tier IV engines with SCR, alternate low carbon fuels, and/or batteries," RAL said. "Three years ago, that number would have been less than 10 per cent."
RAL added that decarbonisation will also influence the future of the tug industry, compelling designers to transition from technically viable to economically viable solutions. The company believes this will enable low-carbon solutions, which include both newbuild and retrofit vessels, to be more widely adopted throughout the industry.
Med Marine meanwhile remarked that the future is gradually moving towards lower-emission propulsion alternatives and that it is the company's goal to keep up with new trends and changing regulations in this regard.
"The past year was one of the best for us," the builder told Baird Maritime. "We completed many deliveries and added new entries to our orderbook in addition to starting discussions with prospective clients. We therefore expect the next couple of years to also be fruitful."
For Med Marine, the coming years will also see a more widespread transition to zero-emission fuels.
"Additional investments will thus be needed to accelerate the development and adoption of environment-friendly vessels," added Med Marine.
