Trivia Investigation Team

[mickthemaverick]

Build information on the tug:

ASD Seagoing tugboat
5.100 bhp, 70 mt bollard pull
download leaflet

Main Characteristics
Length: 32,50 m
Beam: 11.60 m
Draft: abt.4.50 – max 5.00 m
Speed: up to 12,7 kn
Classification:
100 A5 M E A1 Unrestricted Navigation

MC E1 AUT Ice Class E1

ITC ’69 448 GT / 134 NT
Flag: The Netherlands
Homeport: Dordrecht
Call Sign: P C U Z
IMO no.: 9408645
Built: 12 / 2006
Yard: Lindenau Schiffswerft, Germany
Fuel Capacity: abt. 232 m³

I can't see a barge in the picture so I assume it is heading to do a job?

[NewcastleFalcon]

The two metal lattices are on the barge Mick and its being towed by the En Avant 20...will see if I have a better photo and will resize the relevant area.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

En Avant 20 and Barge carrying the two Towers

Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Yes I found the tug but didn't realise the tow was that long!! Back to digging!

[mickthemaverick]

Pinched from the twitter feed suggesting the barge is Osprey owned by OHT.

Friday Pictures| En Avant 20 Beautiful pictures taken from the En Avant 20 during the assistance of OHT's OSPREY to Nigg Invergordon! #mullerdordrecht #tugboat pic.twitter.com/QZCLgOrSgI

and the details on Osprey:

https://www.oht.no/fleet/osprey/

Having said that there is no sign of the superstructure so that may have been the previous job!!

[NewcastleFalcon]

I was chatting to a Bloke who was photographing the tug and barge with a seriously powerful lens. He told me the tug was called en Avant and he had been down on Tyneside photographing the departure with the barge. I am thinking that the structures could well have been assembled on Tyneside. He was a lifeboatman, took a keen interest in all things marine, and if I picked him up right when I said I would check it out on Marine Traffic, he had something to do with AIS and marine traffic in the area.

Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

All I've found is a picture in Tyneside and the info that she left there at 08.23 this morning and is due at Invergordon at 13.00 on Saturday:

Screenshot

[NewcastleFalcon]

These structures are the exact same type as the two being towed this afternoon as seen through my binoculars.

The barge didnt look obviously Red more green and not very ship like. But those structures...perfect match.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkdXemxWAAA ... name=large

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Pinched from the twitter feed suggesting the barge is Osprey owned by OHT.

Friday Pictures| En Avant 20 Beautiful pictures taken from the En Avant 20 during the assistance of OHT's OSPREY to Nigg Invergordon! #mullerdordrecht #tugboat pic.twitter.com/QZCLgOrSgI

and the details on Osprey:

https://www.oht.no/fleet/osprey/

Having said that there is no sign of the superstructure so that may have been the previous job!!

Osprey is on its way from Rotterdam to Mosambique currently somewhere off The Gambia!
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/ho ... 97/zoom:10

Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

How about a Pontoon barge like this:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/S2Vk0Q76Zus

[NewcastleFalcon]

So the tug is the En Avant 20, and the Barge as I find out from Port-Of-Tyne departures is the Stralsund.

The Stralsund (Barge) and the En Avant 20 depart from Northumbrian Quay 7.50 local time bound for Nigg ( Invergordon ish)

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

How about a Pontoon barge like this:

This is it Mick, departed from the Tyne same time as the En Avant 20 this morning!



Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

And here is the build info on it:
STRALSUND
Type Date of Build FlagValue RegisterValue Port of Regestry
Barge 2012-10-12 Germany HAMBURG
IMO Number Official Number Call Sign
SSR 23444
Legnth Breadth Gross tonnage Net tonnage Deadweight tonnage
90.035 31.993 5220 1570 12000
Back to List

STRALSUND Owner, Manager, Shipyard
CRIST S.A.
Hochtief Solutions AG

[NewcastleFalcon]

Excellent work! The place they are heading for is NIGG which is at the entrance of the Cromarty Firth. The settlement itself is a village of 156 inhabitants according to wiki but there is an associated Nigg Energy Park dealing with offshore matters.

For my own curiousity I may attempt to get to the bottom of what was being transported and where it was made if possible.

REgards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

I think I'll leave that to you Neil, I'm happy with towers for the offshore operations or maybe onshore operations but my attention is turning to the use of fibre optics in cars as per my post here