The Vessels “Mirlo” and “Tordo” arrived at Cerros Terminal, in Valparaiso (TCVAL), on board of the freighter BBC Emerald
June 27, 2016. After sailing from Viet Nam for almost a month in the freighter BBC Emerald, the new towage vessels that SAAM will operate in our country arrived to the Chilean coast.
These are “Mirlo” and “Tordo”, azimuthal tugboats model DAMEN ASD 2411, that are 24 meters long and 11 meters wide. They are designed to work mainly in port maneuvers, and due to their characteristics –compact, high maneuverability and power (more than 70 tons bollard pull), they adapt to terminals with maneuvering space restrictions.
With this, SAAM adds two new vessels to the fleet of 22 vessels that the Company owns in Chile.
“We have selected the best designs in the market, with state-of-the-art technology that will ensure a high operational effectiveness, in order to face the challenges posed by the maritime-port industry. The new vessels are part of the modernization and strengthening plan of the fleet owned by SAAM in America”, stated Technical Manager of SAAM’s Towage Division, Pablo Cáceres
The disembarkment operation will be done using a tandem system, which allows disembarking only one tugboat per day, due to the weight of each vessel (450 tons), thus avoiding destabilizing the ship that is carrying them.
“The disembarkation operation of these two tugboats constitutes a landmark for our terminal, as this type of maneuver has not taken place in Valparaiso for almost two decades. It is a highly complex operation, indeed, the freighter transporting them has a special stability to be able to be upright at all times, and during the uncoupling of the tugboat from the ship’s cranes to the sea. This maneuver is the most complex one ever carried out by TCVAL since the beginning of its operations,” explained Ciro González, Operations Manager for the port company.
The vessels, built by the dutch shipyard DAMEN Gorinchem, are destined to the port of San Antonio, and will join the vessels recently arrived in the country, “Yunco” and “Huairavo”, vessels that were specially outfitted to comply with the specialized GNL terminals, specifically, in Quintero.
SAAM’s Towage Division is present in twelve countries throughout the Americas and in more than 70 ports. It has a total fleet of 188 tugboats, being established as the fourth worldwide operator and the leading one in the Americas.
