With the July delivery of the tug 'Northwind', the Rotterdam-based firm Avra Towage is now operating a fleet of six tugs with a seventh under construction.
Classed with Bureau Veritas, and bearing the flag of the Dutch Antilles, 'Northwind' measures 31.1 by 9.5 metres, with a 3.5-metre draught, and was built in Sibu in east Malaysia.
Three of the company's original five-boat fleet have Cummins main engines, so it was an easy choice to go with Cummins engines for the 'Northwind'. However, where the others have 1,800kW and 32 tonnes of bollard pull with a pair of 38-litre Cummins main engines (tugs 'South', 'West', and 'East'), the new boats are powered by a pair of the larger 50-litre Cummins KTA50-M engines. These generate a total of 2,400kW to give the boats bollard pulls of 43 tonnes.