Saturday, 5th December 2020, the newbuild Damen tugs VB Bolero and VB Rumba arrived in their homeport Zeebrugge in Belgium and demonstrated their manoeuvres with a tug ballet.
The tugs arrived in Zeebrugge in the presence of a small group of delegates of MBZ / Port of Zeebrugge and Boluda Towage.
Geert Vandecappelle, CEO of Boluda Towage Europe: “I am delighted to welcome the VB Bolero and VB Rumba in the Port of Zeebrugge today and I wish them and their crew fair winds and following seas. The tugs will commence their towage activities services for Boluda Towage Europe in the Port of Zeebrugge as part of the extended 5-year concession for towage services”.
The focus of the partnership between Port of Zeebrugge and Boluda Towage Europe lays in efficient, smooth, and safe handling of shipping, and puts forward initiatives regarding sustainability. The concession agreement includes eight powerful and modern tugboats in this port region, which are all certified with the highest firefighting standards and will be manned with local crew.
Tom Hautekiet, CEO Port of Zeebrugge: “We are happy to see VB Bolero and VB Rumba join the fleet of tug boats in the port of Zeebrugge. As the port authority continues to implement its Clean Port strategy, sustainability is an essential part of the agreement with Boluda Towage Europe. We are proud to say that Zeebrugge has a powerful and green fleet of tugs, perfectly equipped for heavy towing operations and in compliance with the highest emission standards.”
The VB Bolero and VB Rumba are highly manoeuvrable, high performance, environmentally friendly vessels of modern design. The 85-tonnes bollard pull ASD tugs 2813 were built at Damen Song Cam Shipyard in Vietnam and are both complying with the most recent IMO Tier III emission standards.
Aside from the Union Koala, that was already retrofitted to the IMO Tier III standards in 2019, Boluda Towage Europe will also retrofit the Union Panda this year. Other tugs of the fleet in this port region will also be retrofitted in the first two years of the concession contract.
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