Damen Shipyards Group has been awarded a contract to design a new offshore terminal tug for Edison Chouest Offshore. Chouest will initially build two ASD Tugs 5016 at one of its Louisiana shipyards.
The contract builds upon the well-established partnership between the two companies, Damen officials said in a statement. Chouest has, to date, built 12 Damen ASD Tugs 3212 and five Damen ASD Tugs 4517.
Damen has designed the 50-meter (164') ASD Tug 5016 to provide escort, hold-back, hose-handling and maintenance duties offshore Guyana. The tug will deliver 120 tons of static bollard pull delivered by twin C-280 engines. It will also have a hybrid system that will be engaged when loitering. Extensive operational experience from Chouest supplied all the necessary ingredients for the design to perform optimally once in operation in Guyana.
To facilitate the hose maintenance, the vessel features a 27-meter (88'6") aft deck with hose-flushing equipment and a full width sump. The tugs will also carry a workboat to assist in hose-handling operations. The ASD Tugs 5016 built by Chouest will be installed with FiFi 1 and oil spill response equipment.
Damen has developed the ASD Tug 5016 design in close collaboration with Chouest, drawing on their extensive operational experience offshore in Guyana and input from their client.
“The ASD Tug 5016 is a testimony to the successful relationship that Damen has enjoyed with Edison Chouest over the years,” Damen sales manager Americas Daan Dijxhoorn said in a statement announcing the agreement. “Characteristic of this relationship, the ASD Tug 5016 draws on proven Damen technology and applies it in a new way in order to meet the requirements of Chouest and their clients.”
