Displaying items by tag: Tug twins
Dublin Port Tug Pair Take Up 'New Home' Within Port Estate
Tugs are among the heart of Dublin Port's workboat operations, though the port's towage pair recently relocated from the publically prominent berths located next to the Tom Clarke Bridge, otherwise known as the 'East Link' Bridge, writes Jehan Ashmore
The Voith-Schneider propelled tug twins, Beaufort and Shackleton, each with a 53-bollard ton pull, would of been seen from passing motorists and pedestrians on the East-Link when stationed alongside the North Wall Quay Extension.
This quay complete with a lighthouse, is also associated with P&O Ferries operations out of Terminal 3 and their Irish Sea link to Liverpool also served by a pair in the form of ropax twins Norbank and Norbay. Plus increased capacity with chartered-in freight-only vessels, Clipper Pennant from Seatruck and Stena Forecaster as the name suggests is from the fleet of Stena RoRo which specialises in charter work.
Now the tugs are berthed at a custom-built pontoon downriver in the port estate at Berth 50 which neighbours Stena Line's Terminal 2 and related ro-ro linkspan that serves their traffic on the Holyhead route to north Wales.
So why the relocation? According to the Dublin Port Company, the transfer of the tugs to the pontoon provides safer access for the crews. In addition the location is positioned closer to the working heart of the Port and therefore assisting to reduce fuel consumption.
In addition the relocation Afloat adds, will reduce costs and pollution given the new tug station closer proximity to the Port Operations tower also centred stratigically in the port. The tower with a quay for pilot cutters, faces opposite to the south quays container facility of MTL Terminals, part of the Peel Ports Group which operates the Port of Liverpool.
When the tugs were introduced more than a decade ago in 2010, DPC choose to break with tradition by naming the tugs after Dublin Bay coastal suburbs and place names in Irish and instead focused on historical Irish male figures. Shackleton was named in honour of the Antartic explorer Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton whereas Beaufort, took the named after the Navan-born, Sir Francis Beaufort, who created the world-renowned wind-scale measurement.
The tugs officially entered service in March 2010 after a joint naming ceremony was held in Dublin Port and from where today, the berthed tugs this afternoon are nearby to ICG's (EUCON) containership CT Rotterdam at the DFT Container Terminal. Also this afternoon's recently departed ferry Stena Estrid.
The DPC's commissioning of the custom-built pair saw an order take place in northern Spain at Astilleros Zamakona Shipyard, Bilbao. Each tug costing €6m out of an overall €16m port work fleet renewal programme to include pilot cutters and a multicat workcraft used for navigation buoy maintenance and other works within the port.
The then new tugs having replaced DPC fleet of an ageing tug trio that were disposed with one of the three, the Deilginis (Dalkey) remaining in Irish waters, but in subsequent years was resold and for a role overseas.