Supporting our clients in creating safer, greener and more efficient operations. KOTUG can boast over 100 years of experience in the maritime industry. We have expanded our field of expertise from towage to other areas such as salvage, chartering, offshore and subsea activities. With this knowledge and our drive to be ahead in maritime excellence, we can support our customers to develop their business from good to great.

NAUTICAL CONSULTANCY

Our expert advice can be applied to all situations involving use of tugs, from designing port and terminal layouts to determining procedures for waterborne transport projects.

• Advice on the (new) harbour/terminal layout
• Simulating new harbour layouts / assessing the type and number of tugs needed
• Simulating various scenarios in tug boat configuration
• Assessing the best tug type for a certain harbour
• Nautical and HSE support to the maritime industry and tug operators
• Towage consultancy on special marine transport projects
• Simulating special marine projects
• Providing advice and production of complete marine safety cases

TECHNICAL CONSULTANCY

KOTUG supports ship owners in optimizing and improving the technical standards of all their assets, and also to analyze the performance of fleets.

• Docking support
• Vessel inspections and assessments (incl. reporting)
• Planned and preventive maintenance optimization
• Defining the optimum maintenance strategy for an entire fleet
• Analysis of fleet performance with analytical tools and/or dashboards
• Providing advice on the best suitable tug composition within a certain operation or port

KOTUG developed a patented drone technology for future use in its tug operations. This pioneering invention – using a drone to connect the towline to an assisted vessel – drastically improves the safety margin of tug operations as this avoids the need for manoeuvring in the so-called danger zone. 

KOTUG is the first tugboat company that uses this technology: to deliver a messenger line to a predetermined  location with object recognition software. Instead of picking up the heaving line of the assisted ship, the messenger line of the tug will be brought to the assisted ship in a more controlled manner. This will allow the tug to safely sail beside the assisted ship instead of in front of the assisted ship. 

Conventionally, tugboat and crew position themselves in front of and close to the assisted vessel in order to grab the heaving line by hand. By doing so, the tug and crew position themselves in the danger zone, close and even under the (flared) bow of a vessel. A minor flaw in the operation can result in major injuries of the deck crew and/or damage to the tug and the assisted vessel.

A series of successful tests have been performed by KOTUG for full operational use of this revolutionary technology for which standard operating procedures will be developed in conjunction with relevant authorities and stakeholders.