Damen Shipyards Group and Abu Dhabi Ports signed a contract for two Damen ASD Tugs 2411 at the 2018 Abu Dhabi Boat Show in October. Delivery of both vessels is due within three months of the contract date. The two 24m long tugs will join the twelve harbour tugs already in service with Safeen, the fleet operating subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Ports responsible for pilotage, mooring, vessel handing and towage at Abu Dhabi Ports, and will bring a new level of capability. In particular, they will be supporting vessel movements at Khalifa Port’s two container terminals managed by ADT/MSC and COSCO Shipping Port Limited (CSPL) as well as EGA’s berth for Bauxite shipped to its smelter in Al Taweelah.

Sanmar of Turkey has delivered the third version of its new Robert Allan Ltd. designed series, the Delicay Class Traktor-Z 2500SX. The new vessel, destined to be deployed on the River Thames, carries the name Svitzer Meridian and has a full FiFi 1 notation powered by a dedicated Cat C32 diesel engine. The 340gt/2018 built tug is the second vessel of the series, the first being the Svitzer Vale that went to New Zealand. The tractor tug was originally developed mainly for ship-handling due to its exceptional manoeuvrability and safety in operation and is preferred by many experienced operators. The main difference between the Tractor and ASD type of tug is the location of the propellers. This new series has forward mounted Z-Drives with a fixed skeg aft.