New tugboat for Farmar Towage

Text: Sveinung W. Jensen, Tellus Kommunikasjon

“We’ve been searching for a newbuild tailored to our needs for quite some time. But it’s been extremely difficult to find a vessel that can be equipped with double-drum winches with high pulling capacity both fore and aft, while also being escort-classed and having sufficient fuel capacity.

This vessel ticks all the boxes – and it’s practically as good as new,” says Managing Director of Farmar, John W. Nilsen.

The vessel will be named Farmar Ares and joins a tug fleet that already includes Farmar Arion, Farmar Athos, and FFS Atlas.

“Our plan is to have the vessel operational as early as May. This is a strategic acquisition that signals a clear commitment to ocean-going towing and international assignments,” says Nilsen.

FARMAR'S NEW tug was built in 2016 and has logged just 3,000 hours on the propellers – roughly the same number of hours Farmar’s other vessels clock in a single year.

The tug was purchased from a Spanish company and has only been used for harbour services, despite being built for offshore operations.

“It has enough fuel to cross the Atlantic with a tow. Not many vessels of this type are capable of that,” Nilsen points out, adding:

“We operate a little differently from those who focus solely on harbour towage. We needed a vessel with large winches and ample capacity for both pull and wire, to handle demanding tows worldwide.”

FARMAR ARES measures 31.5 metres in length and 11.2 metres in beam. Despite its modest size, it is powered by a robust machinery setup with two Caterpillar 3516C engines delivering 2,350 kW each.

The vessel is equipped with double-drum winches both fore and aft, and has a clear deck area of 150 square metres. On board there are eleven berths spread across three single cabins and four double cabins – a significant advantage when additional crew is required under GOMO regulations.

The fuel tank capacity is as much as 301 cubic metres, which gives the boat an endurance of 40 days at economic speed.

Although Farmar Ares is smaller than the company’s existing tug Farmar Arion, it offers more bollard pull – a total of 91 tonnes compared to Farmar Arion’s 87. It is also fully prepared to comply with the GOMO framework, which imposes strict requirements on manning and operational safety for offshore activities.

“IT HAS TWO MORE cabins than what is standard for this type of vessel. That allows us to bring an additional navigator on board and therefore meet GOMO requirements for those assignments that demand it – something not many in the Norwegian market can offer,” explains Nilsen.

The tug will be crewed by five people plus an apprentice, and Farmar is now in the process of recruiting for these positions.

“I highly recommend applying. It’s an incredible vessel, barely broken in. In terms of quality, it’s like a newbuild – without the usual teething problems,” says Nilsen.

FARMAR ARES also holds escort class, FFI class, and oil recovery class, and is equipped with relevant gear including oil boom and oil skimmer. Everything is in place for this vessel to become a key asset in Farmar’s ongoing expansion.

“It’s clear that we’ll be securing more assignments with this vessel in our fleet. We’re really looking forward to getting her into operation,” says Nilsen with a smile.