Armon Shipyard engineers prepare Hydrotug for launch (source: Astilleros Armon)
Armon Shipyards has seen rising orders for tugs for operations in the Iberian peninsula as owners modernise their fleets
The Spanish shipbuilder has secured four newbuilding contracts for tug deliveries in 2024, including two from Portuguese owners, according to BRL Shipping Consultants.
One will be a 24-m harbour tug for Portos dos Acores, which operates eight ports in Portugal. This is Astilleros Armon Navia hull number 852 and scheduled for delivery March 2024.And Empresa Portuaria Nacional ordered a new 31-m tugboat, Armon Navia hull number 853, for completion August 2024.
In between these deliveries, Armon expects to complete a 32-m harbour tug by June 2024 for an unnamed client and has an order for another 32-m tug, scheduled for delivery December 2024 for an undisclosed owner.
Armon Navia completed a world-first hydrogen-powered harbour tug in 2022 when it delivered Hydrotug 1 to the Port of Antwerp-Bruges.This 4,100-kW, 496-gt tug was developed by CMB.Tech with two BeHydro V12 dual-fuel, medium-speed engines that can run on both hydrogen and diesel fuel, driving two Schottel thrusters of type SRP 460.
This thruster configuration will enable the 31-m tug to achieve a bollard pull of 65 tonnes. It was testing hydrogen bunkering and operations from the Port of Ostend, Belgium Q4 2022 and Q1 2023.
Other Spanish shipyards have gained contracts for workboats and marine service vessels.
BRL reported Freire Shipyard had won a contract from Scotland UK’s Briggs Marine for a buoy-laying vessel. This 625-gt, 40-m vessel will have a beam of 12 m and is scheduled for delivery October 2024.
Freire Shipyard completed new oceanographic research and survey ship Jaywun for the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, seen leaving the Port of Vigo, Spain in February. This 47-m vessel has a beam of 12 m, a draught of 4 m and speed of 13 knots. Its propulsion consists of two 1,840-kW main engines, complemented by a 200-kW electric motor for power take in, enabling 100% electric mode for navigation at low speeds.
Gondan Shipyard was awarded a contract in December 2022 to build a buoy tender vessel for the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) in Scotland.NLB has two ships, Pharos and Pole Star to help operate and maintain 208 lighthouses and 174 buoys around Scotland and Isle of Man waters.
This new buoy tender vessel is set to be delivered in Q3 2025 to replace Pole Star, with advanced navigation and communication systems. It features devices for hydrographic surveying and wreck finding, and energy-efficient technologies will reduce its carbon footprint.
It will be employed for buoy maintenance and deployments, to deliver stores and supplies to lighthouses and inspect navigation aids on oil and gas production platforms and drilling rigs offshore Scotland.
Details of the new oceanographic research ship,Jaywun, built for the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi
