Fairmount Tows Diamond Offshore’s Rig from Brazil to USA

Fairmount Marine’s tug Fairmount Alpine has towed the rig Ocean Whittington from offshore Belem, Brazil, to offshore Galveston, US. For this job Fairmount Marine was contracted by the rig’s owner, Diamond Offshore Drilling, for which Fairmount has performed a series of towages in recent years.

Ocean Whittington is a semi submersible drilling rig for deep water operations. The rig has worked offshore the northern Brazilian coast since 2009. To tow the rig to the Gulf Fairmount Marine mobilized tug Fairmount Alpine, which was in South Africa after performing escort services for bulk carrier Vale Beijing.

When Fairmount Alpine arrived at the location of the Ocean Whittington offshore Belem, she was requested to perform heading control duties to the rig prior the start of the towage. Upon readiness of the Ocean Whittington the convoy departed for the journey towards offshore Galveston. The tow over a distance of 3,625 miles was performed by the Fairmount Alpine with an average speed of 7.8 knots.

Fairmount Marine is a marine contractor for ocean towage and heavy lift transportation, headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Fairmount’s fleet of tugs consists of five modern super tugs of 205 tons bollard pull each, especially designed for long distance towing, and a multipurpose support vessel. Fairmount Marine is part of Louis Dreyfus Armateurs Group.

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Press Release, May 16, 2012