Robert Allan Ltd.’s RAstar Series tugs selected for Angola LNG contract in Mississippi

April 3, 2010

Colle Maritime Company, a joint venture between Signet Maritime Corporation and Colle Towing Company, has been awarded a twenty-year contract to provide marine support services to Angola LNG Supply Services (ALSS) in the Port of Pascagoula, Mississippi.

The Signet/Colle joint venture will construct two RAstar 3100 Class Terminal Support/Escort Tugs to fulfill this important contract. The tugs, designed by Robert Allan Ltd. of Vancouver, BC, will each provide 80 metric tonnes of bollard pull. Construction will commence immediately at Trinity Offshore in Gulfport, Mississippi with both tugs being built to American Bureau of Shipping ✠A1 Towing and Escort Service, Fire Fighting Vessel Class 1 (Fi-Fi 1), and ✠AMS Standards.

These new tugs are further proof of worldwide industry acceptance of the RAstar Series as the epitome of modern high-performance tug design for major tanker escort and LNG terminal work. The unique hull form of the RAstar class, developed exclusively by Robert Allan Ltd. over many years of committed private research and development, has demonstrated at both model and full scale vastly improved escort performance and sea-keeping capability in comparison to more conventional standard tug hull shapes. Tests have proven conclusively that the RAstar hull provides roll motion reductions of at least 50% and roll acceleration reductions of at least 60% in comparison to typical common tug shapes. The benefits that such reductions represent in terms of less stress on, and fatigue for the crew are obvious. The crew of a RAstar tug will stay alert and focused on their work in conditions twice as severe as on most other tugs of comparable size.

The RAstar 3100 tugs, as illustrated on the attached drawing, were designed exclusively for this Signet-Colle project, and measure 30.5 metres (100’–0″) long, 12.2 metres (40’–0″) beam at deck, and have a moulded depth of 5.5 metres (18’–0″). The operating draft is 5.2 metres (17.2 ft.). Main engines for the new tugs comprise a pair of new Caterpillar Model C175-16 diesel engines, each rated 2550 kW (3417 BHP) at 1,800 rpm. These drive a pair of Rolls-Royce model US 255 Z-drives, with 2800 mm OD controllable pitch propellers. The combination will deliver 80 tonnes BP ahead and over 75 tonnes astern.

For further details of these or any RAstar Series terminal/escort tugs, please contact us.