In a bid to improve safety and flexibility in towing and escort operations at the Port of Livorno, Italy, Damen Shipyards has recently delivered the first Damen ASD Tug 3212, called the Luisa Neri.
Andrea Trevisan, Sales Manager at Damen, said: “With some tight turns, Livorno is well known for being quite a challenging harbour to operate in.
“The Luisa Neri has just over 80 tonnes of bollard pull – the manoeuvrability and the right equipment to handle these difficult escorting duties though.”
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The render-recovery winch on the fore deck of the Luisa Neri and a towing winch on the aft deck both allow operators to work in the toughest offshore conditions.
With 200 metres of Dyneema towing wire on each drum, the winch is directly driven by two Hägglunds hydraulic motors, which are connected to the main shaft.
The aft towing winch is a single drum with 750 metres of steel towing wire on the drum, and is driven by one Hägglunds hydraulic motor that is connected to the main shaft.
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Erik van Schaik, Senior Design and Proposal Engineer Tugs, said: “This winch outperforms its competitors by far.
“The system prevents high peak loads in the towing wire during open water operations in sea conditions up to 3-metre significant wave heights and 6-second wave periods,thus reducing the chance of the towing line breaking and making offshore towing and escorting duties much safer, it really is unique in the industry.
“The render-recovery winch also gives tug captains an outstanding degree of flexibility.
“They can work with various operating modes depending on the weather, the sea conditions and the work needed to be done.
“These modes are used to control either the distance or the forces acting between tug and the vessel it is assisting.”
Dott Piero Neri, Managing Director of Fratelli Neri, concluded: “The extremely flexible characteristics of this tug, the experience and the professional capacities of Damen Shipyards GroupTogether with the experience of the crew make us confident that this new unit will be able to fulfil the duties it will be asked to perform in a ready, efficient and safe way.”
Fact file: Fratelli Neri is a family-owned company with a long history. Neri’s activities began at the end of the nineteenth century when Costante Neri was involved in the coal trade from the United Kingdom.
