The Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) received the first of a series of three ASD TUGs 2810 Hybrid tugs when they sailed into the Den Helder harbor on February 20.
This 29-meter tug is named Noordzee and is the first hybrid tug delivered to the Navy by Damen.
At this time, the RNLN has four conventional tugs in Den Helder at its disposal. These older vessels, as Damen explains, do not have sufficient power to tug new ships such as the HNLMS Karel Doorman, HNLMS Rotterdam and the HNLMS Johan de Witt.
Furthermore, the old vessels still make use of normal propellers with rudders with a restricted manoeuvrability and no longer fit the vision of sustainability that the RNLN has for the future.
The ASD TUG 2810 Hybrid is one of Damen’s standard tugs and is provided with two rudder propeller units. The vessel is able to sail on full electric power by means of a set of batteries and a diesel-electric on the generator set. When full pull is required, both main diesel engines are used, giving a maximum bollard pull of 60 tonnes.
In total, the RNLN, in cooperation with the Swedish Navy, has ordered five vessels from Damen, including the hybrid tugs. The two additional Swedish tugs are also of a standard design, but designed for operations in icy waters.
The Noordzee was sailed by the RNLN from Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania to the port of Den Helder. The two other ships, the Waddenzee and the Zuiderzee will be delivered in mid-March and mid-June.
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