Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC’s) new, state-of-the-art anchor handling tug Bylgia was christened at Estación Maritima in Vigo, Spain today after just 19 months of construction. The christening was performed by Laura Heerema.
The Bylgia and her soon-to-be-finished sister tug Kolga were commissioned to replace HMC’s aging tugs, the Husky and Retriever. Both of these vessels have been in service for over 30 years.
The new tugs are both equipped with a retractable bow thruster and have dynamic positioning (DP2) capabilities. Measuring 72m long and 18m wide, the fully-custom-built tugs are larger than the Husky and Retriever.
Each tug has a bollard pull of 180t and can hold up to 2,500m³ of fuel, sufficient to sail directly from Rotterdam to Cape Town, South Africa. The anchor winch is capable of installing anchors in water depths of up to 1,500m.
Each tug can accommodate up to 40 people. Bylgia’s first task will be an anchor-handling job in the North Sea for HMC’s semi-submersible crane vessel Hermod.