Sanmar has delivered the SL Wiggins Island, the fifth and final tug built for towage and marine support services provider Smit Lamnalco. The five tugboats will service three LNG export terminals in the Port of Glodstone on Australia’s east coast. The 80 tonnes bollard pull terminal support escort tug, delivered in Istanbul, will now make her way to Australian waters where she will join her sister vessels at the beginning of July.
The first of the five-ship Robert Allan RAstar 3400 series, the SL Curtis Island, was delivered last December and, since then, the SL Quoin Island, SL Boyne Island and SL Heron Island have all been commissioned. The Bureau Veritas-classed tugs, with FiFi1 notation, are 34 metres long, 14.5 metres wide and have a maximum draft of six metres. Powered by a pair of Wärtsilä 8L26 diesel engines each developing 2,720 kW at 1,000 rpm, the tugs have a bollard pull ahead of 86 tonnes, astern of 80 tonnes and a free-running speed of 15 knots. State-of-the-art LNG proof tugs built specially to assist the berthing and manoeuvring of LNG carriers, close attention to safety has been paramount. The vessels are equipped with gas detectors and gas-tight dampers on all air inlets and outlets. All electric deck equipment including towing winches, navigation lights, outside lights and emergency stop buttons are of explosion-proof design.
The electric gas-tight dampers are remotely controlled by the gas safety system which has two alarm stage – one at 20% lower explosion limit (LEL) and a second at 40% LEL. The gas-tight damper closing is controlled by the Captain and all non-explosion proof electrical equipment including radar, search light, window wipers can be switched off with a single button in the event of a gas alarm.
“We are delighted with these new terminal service vessels,” comments Frederik Rutgers, Smit Lamnalco’s General Manager in Gladstone. “We are very impressed with the quality of construction and the tugs are performing well. Our Captains report that they have excellent sea-keeping characteristics and are very strong and stable.”
Close cooperation with the yard Project Director Ali Gürün outlines vessel features. “These vessels are of the RAstar 3400 design, by Robert Allan Ltd, represent a truly unique development in terminal escort tug design with many new features. We designed a new user-friendly control system for these tugs,” he explains, “which uses touchscreen technology to control systems on board the vessel. It is backed up by conventional controls.” The tugs are built in full compliance with Australian Maritime Authority Safety regulations which have detailed engineering and design requirements and are amongst the most demanding in the world.
“The towing winches are powered by two 75kW electrical motors driven by separate frequency drives and inverters to provide full redundancy,” Gürün continues. “These components, together with the dynamic brakes are all water-cooled for safe operation in all weather conditions.”
“It has been a pleasure to build these vessels for Smit Lamnalco and we look forward to continuing our business relationship in the months ahead. We are proud of the quality of our products and our vessels now operate in many regions of the world including Australia, the Middle East and West Africa,” Gürün added.
