Dubai, -headquartered shipbuilder Grandweld Shipyard has delivered four harbour tugs to Specialities Construction (SCC) for operations in Shuwaikh Port in Kuwait

The four 27-m tractor tugs have Z-drive propulsion and 50 tonnes of bollard pull, an escort-rated winch, deck crane and are equipped for oil recovery and fire fighting. Grandweld constructed these tugs to a Robert Allan Ltd TRAktor 2700-Z design and Bureau Veritas class.

Power comes from two Caterpillar-manufactured Cat 3512C main engines, each rated at 1,678 kW, driving two Kongsberg US205S P20 Z-drives.

“The owner chose Grandweld despite a highly competitive bidding process against a Spanish shipyard, with Grandweld’s price, customised technical offer, fast delivery and demonstrated shipbuilding capabilities the winning factors,” said a spokesman.

He said there were challenges implementing this project due to the Covid-19 pandemic and recent supply-chain disruptions.

“Grandweld used strong relationships with suppliers and proactive project management to ensure the SCC tugs were delivered on time,” said the spokesman. “Commitment to on-time delivery is a key reason customers trust Grandweld.”

The shipyard has a long history building harbour, escort and terminal tugs. It is also investing heavily in research and development of hybrid powering solutions.

“There will be more focus on sustainability in future, with the long-term goal being renewable energy use in new ships,” the spokesman said, adding Grandweld will soon announce vessel designs with hybrid-power solutions.

Grandweld also invests in its engineering and IT departments, using digital systems to improve productivity and implement innovations.

“Grandweld’s leadership believes strong inhouse capabilities, combined with an excellent organisational culture, results in better teamwork and enhanced communication levels between internal departments,” said the spokesman. “This is facilitated through constant digital innovation using Grandweld’s proprietary enterprise resource and procurement system that integrates engineering with purchasing, planning, execution and customer communications. All this results in high-quality, fast, cost-effective results.”

(Source: Riviera by Martyn Wingrove)