VISAKHAPATNAM: The third of the 25-tonne bollard pull tugs, designed and built at Hindustan Shipyard Ltd for the Indian Navy, having successfully completed the sea trials, was flagged off by Cmde A.S. Mitra (retired), Director (Shipbuilding) on Sunday.
The tug will be commissioned at Port Blair in Andaman & Nicobar Islands. This is the 178th vessel built by HSL since its inception. The tug named as ‘Buland’ is capable of developing 25 tonne pull force and can cruise at 12 knots.
It is fitted with the Voith-Schneider propulsion system which enables easy manoeuvring in all directions even at zero speed. IN Tug Buland is suitable for ocean-going duties and fitted with state-of-the-art fire-fighting equipment.
The first two in the series of three tugs were built in record time of 10 months from the date of laying the keel and were handed over to the Navy in January to meet the requirements of International Fleet Review 2016.
HSL Chairman and Managing Director Rear Admiral (retired) L.V. Sarat Babu stated that the shipyard was planning to deliver two more 50 tonne bollard pull tugs to Kandla Port Trust by month-end. This will enable achieving yet another record of delivering six ships in a single calendar year.
