The first of a series of three ASD 2810 Hybrid tugs were navigated into the Den Helder harbour by the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) on February 20, 2016.
This hybrid tug that bears the name Noordzee is almost 29 metres long and is the first standard hybrid tug supplied by Damen that the RNLN will employ.
The Noordzee was sailed by the RNLN from Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania to the port of Den Helder. The two other ships, the Waddenzee and the Zuiderzee will be delivered in mid-March and mid-June.
The contract for the three ASD tugs reflects the good cooperative partnership that exists between Damen and the RNLN, as well as their shared vision.
At this time, the RNLN has four conventional tugs in Den Helder at its disposal. However, these older vessels do not have sufficient power to tug new ships such as the HNLMS Karel Doorman, HNLMS Rotterdam and the HNLMS Johan de Witt.
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Furthermore, the old vessels still make use of normal propellers with rudders with a restricted maneuverability and no longer fit the vision of sustainability that the RNLN has for the future.
The ASD TUG 2810 Hybrid is one of Damen’s standard tugs and is provided with two rudder propeller units for optimum maneuverability and is able to sail on full electric power by means of a set of batteries and also diesel-electric on the generator set.
When full pull is required, both main diesel engines are used, giving a maximum bollard pull of 60 tonnes, ensuring that all heavy duty tug jobs can be realised.
The RNLN was explicitly looking for a standard tug which was very environmentally friendly, as well as being powerful enough to realise heavy operations.
In total, the RNLN, in cooperation with the Swedish Navy, has ordered five vessels, including the hybrid tugs. The two additional Swedish tugs are also of a standard design, but designed for operations in icy waters.
Fact File: Damen Shipyards operates 32 ship-and repair yards and employs 8,000 people worldwide. The company has delivered more than 5,000 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers approximately 180 vessels annually to customers worldwide.
