Orkney Towage Company Ltd. was formed on 21 April 1976 to primarily to provide towage services for the oil terminal on Flotta. Since this time, Towage services, (now part of the Harbour Authority) is now primarily engaged in providing the towage services for the Oil Port of Scapa Flow.

Their duties include assisting in the berthing and sailing of oil tankers from the jetty operated now by Repsol Sinopec Ltd plus the berthing and sailing of oil tankers involved in Ship-to-Ship operations and escort duties for oil tankers arriving and departing Scapa Flow.

Overview

Towage Services is signatory to the CAST agreement (Coastguard Agreement for Salvage and Towage), and under the CAST agreement the MCA may call upon their services (subject to availability) to assist in salvage operations were a vessel is in danger of causing pollution, danger to other shipping or to assist in counter pollution duties. On occasions when the service of a tug is not required in Scapa Flow, Towage Services are available for third party usage within the area of the North of Scotland.

The three 55 tonne bollard pull tugs and their crews are also a key part of the Oil Pollution Response Contingency Plan for Scapa Flow, each tug has a knuckle boom crane which can be used for deploying pollution equipment as well as transporting equipment to the location of a pollution incident. Tug crews are involved in regular oil pollution training exercises with the Orkney Islands Council Department of Marine Services. The crews employed onboard the tugs are highly skilled and experienced personnel and are all certified to STCW ’95. In 2003, Towage Services achieved full compliance with the requirements of the International Safety Management Code (ISM code).

In recent years, Towage Services as played a major part in the installation of Renewable Energy Devices in Orkney. The installation of the Openhydro tidal device at the Falls of Warness and the further installation of the EMEC wave testing device on Orkney's west coast demonstrated the versatility and experience of the towage crews at their best.

For further details on Towage Support services please contact:

Dougie Manson, Towage Superintendent,
Harbour Authority Building, Scapa, Orkney, KW15 1SD
Tel: +44 (0)1856 873636
Fax: +44 (0)1856 873012
Email: [email protected]

Technical Information

Our towage team operates a 24 hour service in Scapa Flow with the fleet currently being modernised with the additon of the 2 brand new 3 azimuth stern drive tugs, Odin and Thor of Scapa. These 2 vessels which joined the fleet in 2020 have a bollard pull of 78t and are equipped with fire fighting monitors and can also be used for counter pollution duties. They joined the existing tugs Einar, Erlend and Harald. On occasion, the tugs assist with general port services such as supplying fresh water or gas oil.

Case Studies

Orkney’s new world-class tugs
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