Aspin Kemp & Associates (AKA) are pleased to announce their most recent collaboration with KOTUG International for the newbuild construction of two hybrid Advanced Rotor®tugs. Following AKA and KOTUG’s successful hybrid retrofit of the RT Adriaan to become Europe’s first hybrid E-KOTUG in early 2012, the team are partnering once again to provide the next generation of hybrid Rotor®tugs for KOTUG’s fleet on behalf of Elisabeth Ltd. based in Malta.
Given their active “green” policy, KOTUG were keen to incorporate AKA’s XeroPoint Hybrid technology in their newbuild program “We have now witnessed, first hand, the benefits of AKA’s hybrid technology. Not only are we reducing our fuel consumption and emissions but we are significantly decreasing our engines’ running hours which will result in maintenance cost savings as well,” says Ard-Jan Kooren, Kotug’s President.
AKA’s XeroPoint hybrid marine propulsion system will be installed onboard Rotor®tug’s new and innovative tugboat design, the Advanced Rotor®tug, ART 80-32 at Damen Shipyards. The new Rotor®tug design is a collaboration between Robert Allan Ltd and KST b.v. (Rotor®tug). “Hybrid Advanced Rotor®tugs will provide the ultimate combination of operational flexibility and performance efficiency,” indicates Evan Willemsen, Managing Director at KST b.v. (Rotor®tug), “we believe that the Rotor®tug will be the future of towing and escorting, once the industry fully recognizes and adopts the benefits of the concept.” The addition of the hybrid Rotor®tugs allows KOTUG to strengthen its position as leaders in the maritime tugboat industry.
AKA will be working closely with KOTUG and the other strategic partners to ensure delivery of the hybrid tugboats by early 2014 to Elisabeth Ltd. “Our philosophy is to take a collaborative approach with our clients,” explains Paul Jamer, VP Corporate Development at AKA, “we share in our partners’ successes and challenges and we believe this cooperation provides us with yet another opportunity to strengthen our ties with KOTUG and technology collaborators such as Caterpillar, Corvus Energy and van der Leun. The delivery of these two hybrid systems will further our position as the leading provider of hybrid propulsion systems for the marine industry.”