Smit Lamnalco takes delivery of fifth LNG tug

Smit Lamnalco has taken delivery of the fifth and final tug, built at the Sanmar shipyard in Turkey.

The SL Wiggins Island, together with four other tugboats, will service three LNG export terminals in the Port of Gladstone, Australia. The 80 t bollard pull terminal support escort tug will now make her way to Australia.

Wärtsilä engines

The Bureau Veritas-classed tugs, are 34 m long, 14.5 m wide, have a maximum draft of 6 m and have FiFi 1 notation. Powered by two Wärtsilä 8L26 diesel engines, each developing 2720 kW at 1000 rpm, the tugs have a bollard pull ahead of 86 t, astern of 80 t and a speed of 15 knots.

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 stages, one at 20% lower explosion limit (LEL) and a second at 40% LEL.

Terminal service

Commenting on the delivery of the final tugboat, Frederik Rutgers, General Manager in Gladstone, said: “We are delighted with these new terminal service vessels. 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.”

Sanmar Shipyard Project Director, Ali Gürün, outlined some of the vessel features: “These vessels represent a truly unique development in terminal escort tug design with many new features. We designed a new user-friendly control system, 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.

‘All weather conditions’

“The towing winches are powered by two 75 kW electrical motors driven by separate frequency drives and inverters to provide full redundancy. 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.”

Adapted from press release by Katie Woodward

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/19052015/lng-tug-delivered-for-smit-lamnalco-780/