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ITC tug SUMATRAS arrived mid July 2011 in Rotterdam after a 14,500 miles tow from Dalian, China, for delivery of four new building barges. Submersible barge AMT CHALLENGER (19,200 dwt) was loaded with sister barge AMT COMMANDER and offshore barges UR 98 and UR 99. SUMATRAS first towed both AMT barges in double tow from Shanghai to Dalian where the barges were loaded onto each other.
In the last week of March, the convoy sailed towards Singapore, where an ‘offshore port limits’ call was made to lift additional bunkers and to inspect the cargo. In the East China Sea, the convoy encountered some days of force 8/9 but coming from an ENE-ly direction, it did not had much influence on the towing speed. After Singapore, Malacca Strait was passed with full piracy alert and the transport headed into the Indian Ocean toward Port Louis, Mauritius for a second offshore stop and crew change.
Mid May the passage of Cape of Good Hope started and the tug and barge ran into high swells and up to 6 meters seas. Daily routing and weather updates given by Metworks during the Cape passage, assisted the tug master. Late May the Cape was passed and the convoy headed north.
Benefitting from the favorable currents, the speed of the deep drafted tow increased to over 7 knots and on the first day of summer SUMATRAS had a rendez vous with bunker tanker ANUKET RUBY off Dakar. One week later a combination of strong counter current and northerly wind force 7-8 resulted in 5-6 meter seas and again the master was forced to reduce output to cope with the weather and sea conditions. Only after passing the Portuguese North and heading into the Bay of Biscay, conditions improved. One day before arrival at Rotterdam, SW-ly winds force 7 marked the end of the last towage performed by SUMATRAS under ITC ownership. It was rewarding to see our SUMATRAS end its 35 year service with a smooth 14,500 miles towage for account of a long time and frequent customer of the S-Wind Class of tugs: Augustea Anchor Marine Transportation.
