[By: Damen Shipyards Group]
Fairplay Towage Group, one of Europe’s leading towage providers, has placed an order with Damen Shipyards for the delivery of two further tugboats, one of which is of the ASD Tug 2813 design, the other one being a tug fitted with azimuth stern drives and a bollard pull of 60 tonnes. The latter acquisition will be fitted with an aft winch for offshore towage. The ASD Tug 2813 boasts an impressive bollard pull in excess of 80 tonnes for harbour assistance. Both vessels will be fitted with external FiFi capabilities for swift response to emergencies.
These are the most recent vessels to be purchased by Fairplay from Damen, following an ASD Tug 2813 that was delivered at the end of 2023. Fairplay is continuously expanding and rejuvenating its fleet and when the latest two acquisitions are delivered late this year, the total number of Damen vessels in the fleet will have grown to thirteen.
“This contract is special for Damen,” says Damen Sales Manager Joschka Böddeling. “We truly value the profound relationship we have built up with Fairplay over recent years. We are incredibly happy that this important customer has returned to us with their latest requirements and that, despite stiff competition, we succeeded in convincing them of the benefits of our proposal.”
Arkadiusz Ryz, Director Offshore Division at Fairplay Towage, commented on the occasion of the signing of the ship building contracts: “When considering our acquisition plans, we had been looking for modern tug designs with outstanding ice class capabilities to strengthen and rejuvenate our fleet. This is precisely what we have found in Damen’s proposal. One vessel will be equipped with an aft winch which will allow us to offer a large variety of services. She will plug a gap in our lineup between our harbour tugs such as the Damen RSD Tug 2513 design, and our Damen Shoalbuster 2711 Fairplay-37. We have also noticed that our customers are increasingly demanding high bollard pull and this is why we are adding another newbuild tug with 80 tonnes plus bollard pull to our fleet in the form of a Damen ASD Tug 2813.”
Fairplay understands the need to improve the sustainability of its operations and the group has therefore decided to invest voluntarily in after-treatment systems for both vessels to ensure IMO Tier III compliance. Further environmental gains will be realised by reducing and optimising consumption via new tugs as older units are retired.
