Vittoria Shipyard wins its first tugboat orders

Italy's Vittoria Shipyard has entered the international tugboat market with orders that will see it supply ASD (azimuth stern drive) tugs to Russia and Italy.

The Russian boat will be used in the scheduled scrapping of nuclear submarines in the Barents Sea. It is being built under an Italian Ministry for Economic Development (MISE) contract that Vittoria won in a public tender process and that is part of a long-standing agreement between the Russian and Italian governments on managing radioactive waste.

The Algerian order, for a port and coastal tug for the Skikda harbor authority, was won in an international tender process by the Algerian Transport Ministry that was contested by as many as fourteen shipyards, from Spain, Turkey, France, India, China and the Netherlands as well as Italy.

The ASD tug sales take Vittoria Shipyard into a new market. The yard has specialized over the years in building military and paramilitary boats (patrol boats, interceptors, Search and Rescue [SAR] vessels and landing craft), workboats (harbor and offshore platform support work) and passenger vessels.

"The tug market is a big challenge", says Luigi Duò, the president of Vittoria Shipyard. "We have set ourselves the aim of building boats that can be a new point of reference in a market that is as competitive as that for tugs. The quality of our products and engineering gets important recognition from very demanding, highly-professional clients."

The tug sold to Russia is set to work in the difficult conditions of the Barents Sea, with temperatures that go as low as -40 °C. It will meet that country's very stringent quality and security requirements, and will be built and checked in accordance with the regulations of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RMRS). Once built, it will be given the highest-class notation possible. The tug, which is around 32 m long, is designed to operate in non-Arctic waters and will have a towing capacity of over 60 tonnes, as well as reaching 12.5 knots thanks to the two diesel engines linked to two azimuth thrusters with variable pitch propellers. The contract is worth EUR 8 million and delivery is scheduled for 2018.

The vessel for Algeria will work in both towing and pushing modes. It will have an overall length of 26 m, overall beam of 10 m and a draft of 3.80 metres, and displace 508 tonnes fully laden. The tug will have a 30-tonne towing capacity, and will be equipped with double ASD propulsion and two diesel engines producing over 3,600 horsepower.

The top speed is 12.5 knots. The boat is fully equipped for search, safety and rescue operations, and can accommodate a 7-person crew.

The tug will be classified by Bureau Veritas and will be delivered in 2018.