Dutch towage and salvage specialist Multraship, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Novatug BV, has commissioned the construction of two evolutionary Carrousel Rave Tugs (CRTs) from Damen Shipyards Group. The official signing ceremony was held at Europort exhibition in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
These new vessels are expected to provide tug operators with more power, more freedom and more durability, as well as eliminating the risk of capsizing under a tow load.
Construction of the CRTs will begin immediately under an agreement between Novatug, with Multraship as its first customer, and Damen subsidiary Van der Velden Barkemeyer GmbH. The hulls of the vessels will be built by German shipyard Theodor Buschmann GmbH in Hamburg, with final outfitting carried out by Damen Maaskant Shipyards in Stellendam, the Netherlands.
Delivery of the Bureau Veritas-classed vessels is scheduled for the first quarter of 2017.
The RAVE design was developed by naval architecture consultancy Robert Allan Ltd, in conjunction with Voith GmbH.
The CRTs have an overall length of 32 metres, and a bollard pull of minimum 70 tonnes. Propulsion is via two Voith thruster units and two ABC main engines of 2,650 kW operating at 1000 rpm. Free running speed is over 14 knots at 5,300 kW.
Pictured, left to right, are: Mijndert Wiesenekker (Sales Director Benelux Damen), Pepijn Nuijten (Multraship), Kees Muller (Multraship), Arnout Damen (CCO Damen), Leendert Muller (Multraship)