558 July 2009

Cummins Power for Royal Thai Navy

The Thai Navy tug Saatahip 24 at speed.

Utilizing the resources and facilities of their extensive repair yard at Saatahip on the east side of the Gulf of Thailand near Pattaya, the Royal Thai Navy has build a tug for their own use. The 27.5-meter tug has a 8.5-meter beam and a 4.15-meter moulded depth. Designed by Singapore’s Khiam Chuan Marine Pte. Ltd., all of the materials for the vessel were purchased through the services of the Thai shipyard Sea Crest Marine Co. Ltd. This included a dedicated fire pump engine, two 69 kW generator sets and two Cummins KTA38 M2 main engines. Each engine, generating 1200 HP at 1800 RPM, turns into ZF W4610 marine gears with 5.630:1 reduction.

Chief Engineer Phosak Somdote with one of the boat's two
1200 HP Cummins KTA38 M2 engines.

The crew accommodation is attractive and well outfitted with a small separate galley and a roomy comfortable mess with a flat screen TV. The wheelhouse is well laid out with the basic equipment required by a harbour tug. A compact helm indicator, supplied by the Japanese firm Saura Auto Pilot, is mounted on the well laid out and attractive console next to the bright chrome ZF control module. Controls for the Cummins main engines are mounted on either side of a compass binnacle also supplied by Saura. Visibility forward to the combined anchor and hawser-handling winch is good with additional windows in the overhead for ship docking. H-bitts are provided on the after deck for towing.

The tankage includes 107,000 liters of fuel and 30,000 liters of water. The 2400 HP give the boat a 27.5-ton bollard pull. The boat was built in nine smaller module blocks at the Saatahip shipyard and then transferred to the yard’s 237-meter long graving dock where a 90-meter section had been sectioned off. This allowed the tug to be assembled while freeing the balance of the dock for repair and maintenance projects.

Capt. Ltjg. Prajun Polkang in the new vessel's wheelhouse.

The Port at Saatahip is the home base for much of the Royal Thai Navy including the 1997-purchased 11,400-ton displacement Spanish-built vertical/short take off and landing (VSTOL) carrier Chakri Naruebet. See: www.globalsecurity.org/ While not such a spectacular resource as the carrier, the new tug will serve important functions in and around the Saatahip Port.

For more information:

Captain Varanon Puingvichar
Royal Thai Navy
Phone: +662 3843 2318
Mobile: +668 6901 5761
E-mail: varanon-p@hotmail.com

Sathit Suwanprasert
Senior Engineer (marketing)
Cummins Diethelm Ltd.
Bangkap Huaykwang
Bangkok, Thailand 10320
Phone: +662 254 4900
Fax: +662 254 4913
E-mail: sathit.s@dksh.com
Web: www.dksh.com

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