Steel cutting ceremony is held in UZMAR Shipyard located in Kocaeli Free Zone for the “TRAktor V3900-DF” tugboats to be built by UZMAR Shipyard for Boru Hatları İle Petrol Taşıma Anonim Şirketi ‘BOTAŞ’ with build number NB158-NB159, having Türkiye’s first LNG-Diesel dual fuel system and two Escorts with Voith tractor type propeller V3900-DF.
The ceremony was attended by BOTAŞ Regional Director of Petroleum Operations Mehmet Tecimen, BOTAŞ Director of Maritime Services Halil Sevimli, UZMAR Chairman of the Board A. Noyan Altuğ, Başiskele Town Governor Necip Çakmak, Kocaeli Harbor Master Erol Ekmekçi, Kocaeli Chairman of the Board at Chamber of Shipping Vedat Doğusel, KOSBAŞ Chairman of the Board Ayhan Zeytinoğlu and the guests.
Türkiye’s first LNG-Diesel dual fuel tugboats
BOTAŞ Regional Director of Petroleum Operations Mehmet Tecimen started his address by conveying the regards and the good wishes of BOTAŞ Chairman of the Board and General Manager Burhan ÖZCAN and BOTAS Board Member and Deputy Managing Director M. Talha PAMUKÇU. Mentioning the importance of the maritime activities performed by BOTAŞ, Tecimen said that the fleet of BOTAŞ includes 14 tugboats, and they have 55 years of experience in tugboat operations, pilotage, mooring and fighting against marine fires and pollution. Underlining the fact that Ertuğrul Gazi FSRU vessel, which is limited in number across the world and is the first Turkish-flag vessel in our country, has been put to service in March 2021 in Dörtyol LNG Terminal, BOTAŞ Regional Director of Petroleum Operations Mehmet Tecimen continued as follows; “As a corporation that likes the ‘first’s, we feel pride and honour for achieving another “first”. Today, we are all here to enjoy the happiness of adding one more goal to the sustainable, technological, and universal targets of our country and our BOTAŞ. I wish that the 2 tugboats which have been designed as Dual Fuel bring luck to our country, to the maritime industry and to BOTAŞ.”
They will be on duty at İskenderun Port
In his speech, UZMAR Chairman of the Board Ahmet Noyan Altuğ said; “First of all, may God rest the souls of our citizens who have lost their lives in the earthquake disaster on February 6, and I offer my condolences to their relatives. In these days when we are trying to relieve the pains of such a huge disaster, our project is especially important which we will start by cutting the steel here today for the tugboats of BOTAŞ, a very valuable corporation that performs operations in the regions that were heavily affected by the earthquake.
These tugboats to be built for BOTAŞ are very important marine vehicles. They will be used in the region, in İskenderun Port, for maneuvering in the ports berthed by vessels that navigate in the global seas because of the pipelines that connect to this region and will ensure port safety in the region. They will be equipped with cutting-edge technology with respect to maneuvering and navigation capabilities and with state-of-the-art equipment compared to their counterparts in the world.”
‘We have the most premium technology in the world.’
UZMAR Chairman of the Board Ahmet Noyan Altuğ said; “20 years ago, we were not able to build, may only import, these tugboats which have been equipped with the most premium technological features in the world compared to their counterparts in Europe, in the USA and Austria. As Turkish engineers, we are proud of our ability to build such sophisticated and such technological tugboats today.
‘TRAktor V3900-DF’ tugboats are equipped with Voith Schneider propellers and have increased operational safety with 360 degrees of vision in all directions. Our tugboats, which consume LNG fuel and may also operate with diesel when needed and whose NOX emission standards have thus been set to zero thanks to these extremely eco-friendly features, have been equipped with a more advanced technology than its counterparts. We congratulate and thank BOTAŞ for making such a significant investment in such technological tugboats.’
