Port takes delivery of first Sharjah-built tug

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Sharjah Port and Customs Authority has taken delivery of a new 80 foot harbour tug boat from Damen Shipyards Sharjah, for use at the emirate’s east coast Khorfakkan Port. The new Damen ASD Tug 2411, which is named Al Luolo’Aya, is the first ‘made in Sharjah’ tug to be put to work by the ports authority. Located in Hamriyah Free Zone, the US$100 million (AED 365 m) shipyard has been in operation since November 2011.

A long-term customer of Damen, Sharjah Port and Customs Authority already has eight Damen Stan Tugs and a recently delivered Damen pilot boat in its fleet. The new Damen ASD 2411 is the port’s first ASD tug and the first boat to be manufactured at Damen’s facility in Hamriyah Free Zone. The tug boat is heavily built, highly maneuverable and has as a 68.5 tonne maximum bollard pull.

Recently ranked in the top ten most productive ports in the world, according to the 2014 JOC Port Productivity report, Khorfakkan Container Terminal (KCT) is the only fully fledged operational container terminal in the UAE located outside the Strait of Hormuz. Due to its unique geographic location, it it one of the key transshipment hubs for the Arabian Gulf, the Indian Sub-continent, the Gulf of Oman and the East African markets.

Khorfakkan was the first container terminal in the Middle East to handle the CMA CGM Group’s 16,020 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit container) capacity Marco Polo container ship (which is approximately the length of standard football pitches). The new Damen ASD 2411 tug will allow the port to handle the world’s largest ships more efficiently.

Damen Shipyards Sharjah FZE is a joint venture between the UAE’s Albwardy Marine Engineering and Netherlands-headquartered Damen Shipyards Group. The shipyard covers an area of 284,000 square-metres, has 1,200 metres of quay, and a water depth of up to nine metres. Damen is building a series of ASD Tugs 2411 and ASD Tugs 2810 in Sharjah, both to fulfil orders and on speculation.

Damen also relies on its Sharjah-hub to provide support, service and repair facilities for hundreds of Damen-built vessels operating throughout the Middle East region.

Source: Damen, Sharjah Ports