Hindustan Shipyard delivers third 50 ton bollard pull tug to Vizag Naval Dockyard
01 Jan 2022
Hindustan Shipyard Ltd, Visakhapatnam on Friday delivered the third tug in the “Balraj” series to Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam. Contract for construction of 50 ton bollard pull tugs was awarded to the state-run shipbuilder on 14 February 2019 at a cost of Rs260.70 crores.
These tugs have been designed and built under the classification rules of Indian Register for Shipping (IRS) with a service life of 20 years and are capable of assisting large naval ships, including aircraft carriers and submarines in berthing, un-berthing, turning and manoeuvering in confined waters and in harbour. They also provide afloat firefighting cover/assistance to ships alongside/anchorage and have limited capability for search and rescue operations.
Induction of the 50 ton bollard pull tugs has significantly augmented the auxiliary support services and enhanced the capability to meet high operational requirements of fleet assets of Indian Navy. With all major and auxiliary equipment/system sourced from indigenous manufacturers, these tugs are proud flag bearers of “Make in India, Make for the World” initiatives of the ministry of defence in consonance with “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.
Tugs “Veeran” and “Balram” have been inducted on 22 October 2021 and 30 October 2021 at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam and Naval Dockyard, Mumbai, respectively. Despite unprecedented challenges posed due to the impact of first and second wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, Hindustan Shipyard Ltd has put in untiring and concerted efforts to deliver these tugs to Indian Navy.
Hindustan Shipyard Limited, which is engaged in the manufacture of speciality vessels, has already entered the niche market of export orders by docking a pipe laying vessel along with another foreign supply vessel ‘Go Sirus’ for repairs.
The pipe laying vessel named Lay Vessel North Ocean LV105 is of a US firm McDermott, which is used for deep sea pipe laying with electric propulsion and is the largest to be docked at 17000T light weight.
According to an HSL spokesman, there are only three ships of this type in the world. Also, the docking of this vessel needed special skill sets due to the layout of heavy machinery on the ship and having a draft of 6.7 meters and also the dock block clearance was only 200 mm.