What’s in a name? Two Turkish workhorses from Robert Allan Ltd.

November 28, 2013

As the fleet of tugs worldwide continues to expand, the choice of original names becomes ever more limited, so it is delightful to contemplate the origins of the names of the latest deliveries from Besiktas Shipyard in Yalova, Turkey, the tugs GARP and SARK. John Irving might forgive us if the first of the pair were dubbed “T.S. GARP” to acknowledge its propulsion origins, and although nowhere near as graceful as her sailing namesake, “Cutty” Sark surely befits a “short shirt” low air draft tug like this! (for those not familiar with Auld Scots, consult Wikipedia!). However the real explanation of these catchy names is more Kipling-esque; GARP is Turkish for “West” and SARK is “East”, so befitting to their locale of operation, these two tugs will indeed bridge the gap from the Orient to the west, and not by occident!

These two rugged little tugs are of the TS 2000 class design from Robert Allan Ltd, Naval Architects of Vancouver Canada, and were recently delivered to the Directorate General of Coastal Safety in their home port of Istanbul.

Configured as conventional twin-screw tugs, GARP and SARK are designed to perform ship-assist/ harbour tug duties and construction support. With a significantly low air draft and a shallow navigational draft there are few places inaccessible to these tugs. The tug was also designed for the maximum speed possible for a tug of this size.

These TS 2000 harbour tugs are classed and built according to Turkish Lloyd notations: [+] 1A5 TUG K20 [+] MAUT

Particulars of the TS 2000 Class Tugs are as follows:

Tank Capacities are:

GARP and SARK have been outfitted to high standards in a compact space for crew of up to 4 people. The lower accommodation deck consists of a combined mess and pantry, two double crew cabins with a shared en-suite. The wheelhouse is designed for maximum all-round visibility from the forward control station, with conventional helm controls.

Main propulsion comprises a pair of Baudouin M26.2 diesel engines each rated 808 kW at 1900 rpm, and each driving fixed pitched 1.6 m diameter propellers on conventional shaft lines. The vessels have wet exhausts in order to achieve the extremely low air draft.

The deck machinery comprises a forward hawser winch from Data Hidrolik with a brake capacity of 50 tonnes and a line pull of 25 tonnes at 8 m/min. The aft deck has a 27 tonne SWL tow hook, a 3 tonne capstan and a telescopic deck crane with a 6.5 m reach. The bow of the vessel is fitted with push knees and fenders for barge manoeuvring duties.

On trials, the TS 2000 met or exceeded all performance expectations, with the following results:

For more information on the TS 2000, or any other high-performance vessel designs from Robert Allan Ltd., please contact design@ral.ca.