Philippine company Malayan Towage and Salvage Corp. has acquired three tugboats for $20 million as the company, more popularly known as SALVTUG, continuously upgrades its fleet to meet demand from the growing shipping industry, its executives said.
The new tugs were christened on April 19 in ceremonies led by Malayan director, chairman and CEO Terry Watkins and director and president Capt. Edgardo Gualberto.
The M/T Intrepid and M/T Defiance, both with 4,400 brake horsepower (BHP) engines, and the M/T Vigilant, a 4,000 BHP hybrid harbor assist tug, will operate regionally, the executives said.
“We’re evaluated by the dynamic environment we operate in,” said Watkins, adding that the latest additions to the fleet are powerful tugs, as their names imply.
“They are the most modern (tugs) and can compete with any other tugs in the world,” Gualberto said. “Aside from their harbor works, they can do ocean towing. They can perform towage in Southeast Asia without any ordeal,” he added.
Malayan has a total of 41 multi-tasked tugs; six special project vessels, a crewboat, 13 container and general cargo barges led by M/T Trabajador-1.
“Through the years, we’ve grown that number, most of them are docking tugs. The youngest are the three new vessels, aged two years, and (we also have) tugs as old as 40 years old,” Gualberto said, adding that Malayan doesn’t retire old vessels but upgrade the engines and modernize restore the hull.
Salvage tugboat Trabajador 1, an 82-ton bollard pull RINA class vessel fully equipped with marine salvage and oil spill equipment, has an effective range of 15,000 nautical miles (27,780 kilometers) and a speed of 13.5 knots.
The tug can be deployed readily on call 24/7 for any marine salvage operations, emergency rescue, and ocean towing operations.
Trabajador-1 is a 1,040-gross-ton salvage ship with a main engine of 10,000 BHP and bow thruster of 360 HP. With its three five-ton salvage anchors, the salvage ship also has underwater welding and cutting apparatus.
Trabajador-1 was deployed to help in the US Navy’s salvage operations for the USS Guardian, a 68-meter-long minesweeper that ran aground on Tubbataha Reef on January 17.
Gualberto said Trabajador-1 operates internationally and is now deployed in Japan.
Malayan provides over 90% of the docking and undocking services for all types and sizes of vessels at all major Philippine ports.
The salvor has the capability to deploy its emergency response teams on short notice, as well as offer comprehensive marine and shoreside logistical services.
