New Sullom Voe tugs

Not only should they be renamed tangy and zesty like the lemons they are, but it has been alleged that one of them burned more fuel lying at the pier than one of the old Tirrick class tugs did in a week and that included 5 tanker movements ie using main engines not just gennys. What price fae da scrappy??

Given their past performances, any other outcome would be more surprising.

Probably the best outcome would be to try and franchise out tugs, pilot services and ferries to get services running more efficient and at less cost.

If you look at the Bigga at Scalloway, she is surrounded for the second year in succession by a fleet of up to 20 vans and trucks for week after week. If you didn't know any better, you would think the crews carried out no work other than the absolute minimum.

Most merchant vessels carry out painting and work as they go so annual overhauls can be completed in less time.

With one tanker a week at Sullom most weeks, do the tug crews paint their boats?

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Probably the best outcome would be to try and franchise out tugs, pilot services and ferries to get services running more efficient and at less cost....

 

In times of financial hardship and ever reducing income at Sullom Voe, some really hard decisions may be in the offing.

Sullom Voe has pretty much always set the Gold Standard for safe port operations. Almost no cost was spared in doing so. Simple rule was whatever it costs and charge the tankers.

I remember a number of years ago questioning the increasing costs and what would happen when the number of ships declined. The answer, slightly tongue in cheek, was that if there was only one ship a year then that ship would have to pay the entire cost.

OK, so we are not quite at the one ship a year figure, but the number of ships is a tiny fraction of the hey day. Total ships in week is often less than was seen in a day in times past.

Most of the Sullom Voe marine operations today would be totally unattractive to commercial operators on a commission basis.

Remember taking the tugs 'in house' from a commercial operator was to save money on this very point.

Sullom Voe still has excellent facilities, but there is not the volume of oil throughput to sustain it to the standard we have become accustomed.

There always seems to be jam tomorrow, Atlantic oil just round the corner.

The big question is how do we keep it going in the mean time ?

Once shut, it is improbable that it would re-open.

There is no more 'bounty' money to be had, so attracting more oil will only benefit Shetland by way of commercial port operations.

Offshore loading / shuttle tankers / pipelines are all in the frame these days and anyone that thinks local oil producers can be held to ransom are very mistaken.

After convincing everyone that they needed the new tugs at Sullom and having six tugs for a while, are they now going to work with just 3 tugs?

Buy, sell, buy, sell....FFS, you couldn't make this up, and once again "officials" are presenting proposals to the Council for approval on impossible timelines that end in either accept as is/reject decisions. No time to discuss issues or amend proposals....its rubber stamp it as we tell you to, or forget it completely. Is it any wonder a piss up in a brewery our council cannot run.

Proposal put before committee today (29th), supposedly to go before tomorrow's (30th) full meeting for ratification, on an issue that deadlines on 20th Sept. They've had the boat since April, the decision to hire it was taken before that, where have the desk-bound sailors been in getting the discussion on hire vs. buy put on meeting agendas between then and now?

http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/15102-cooper-uncomfortable-on-tug-purchase

How can a tug cost over seven million pounds?

Isn't that a lot of money for a boat of that size? What am I missing?

http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/15102-cooper-uncomfortable-on-tug-purchase

Midder Wit !

I don't understand.

So they can sell it in a couple of years for £4 million and claim they have made a profit (again!)  because it's more than the written down value in the books?

thank you

Speaking seriously that price doesn't surprise me. The boat is only two years old and there will be a hell of a lot of equipment packed into it.

Thank you, Mucklejoanie. You are helping me see this in perspective. OH said it must have the mother of all engines for the power needed too.

Out of interest, how much did the ferry cost?

According to Wikipedia the Hrossey and Hjaltland cost £35 million each in 2002. From memory the new Yell ferries Daggri and Dagalien that the SIC got about the same time cost about £10 million each.

The two Spanish built turkeys they got new and sold on after spending god knows how much on to supposedly give them the stability they were supposed to have in the first place, were delivered in '11 on a contract valued at £14 Million for the two, so six years on and only at a couple of years old, £7 Million is probably a reasonable going rate.

When sold the Spanish turkeys allegedly "didn't make a loss on their purchase price" when their earnings were also factored in alongside the sale prices, so presumably they got a sizeable chunk back at sale - How much though doesn't seem to have ever been revealed/reported in the press, so, there's creative accounting to be taken in to consideration.

Even if they only sold for £4-5 Million each, they were then 5 years old and with a lifetime of troubled history in baggage, so for a comparable boat at 2 years old with (hopefully) a historical clean bill of health, you probably can't knock £7 Million. Still a serious chunk of change for a bathtub carrying a mutha of self powered winch around, but there you go.