On September 22, Russian Maritime Register of Shipping and Damen signed a MoU on construction of four tugboats of Project ASD 2609 Ice to the class of RS. As IAA PortNews journalist reported from the ceremony held at the 13-th International Maritime Exhibition Neva 2015, two tugs will be built in China, the other two – in Romania.
“RS will survey the ships, inspect their technical condition, provide necessary documentation” RS Deputy Director General Pavel Shikhov said.
According to him, RS has been interacting with Damen from 1999. As of today, the list of RS class ships numbers over 60 port service vessels built to Damen designs. 15 vessels are under construction in Russia and at foreign shipyards - ASD 3010 Ice, ASD 2810 Ice, ASD 2609 Ice, TSHD 1000 and TSHD 2000.
Vadim Akimov, Sales Director at Damen, commented: “We work fruitfully with RS today. Damen used to build tugboats under supervision of other classification societies and then reclassified them to RS. Now, all tugboats for Russian customs are being built to RS class.”
According to Vadim Akimov, there are no orders for the tugboats. “In compliance with our company’s policy we build tugboats for stock. We know the market of tugboats and we are aware of the demand,” he said.
Negotiations with potential customers are in progress and the contracts are to be signed in the nearest future.
RS is a recognized expert and absolute leader in safety standard development for icebreakers and ice class ships. Most of RS class ships are intended for operation in freezing and Arctic seas. Over 60% of RS class tugboats are designed to operate in harsh ice conditions.
Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) is one of the world’s leading classification societies. RS was founded in 1913. Since 1969 RS has been a member to the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS). RS is recognized by the European Union, Maritime Administrations of 70 Flag States. RS activities are aimed at enhancing maritime safety standards, ensuring safety of life at sea and marine environment pollution prevention.
Damen Shipyards Group (with its Head Office in Gorinchem, the Netherlands) operates 32 ship- and repair yards (15 – in the Netherlands and 17 – in other countries) employing 8,000 people worldwide. Damen specializes in construction of tugs, boats, patrol vessels, high-speed crafts, cargo ships, dredgers, platforms service vessels, oil spill response ships, frigates and mega-yachts.