The Emergency Towing Vessel Far Sky took up station for the winter at midnight on Sunday when she officially relieved the ETV Anglian Prince the tug that has provided coverage of the area all summer.
The 14,400 BHP salvage tug Far Sky will guard the Western Approaches and Channel against high-risk marine casualties in the event of a shipping incident that could threaten the UK coast. The 1991 tug has a bollard pull of 158 tonnes equivalent to the combined bollard pull of eight harbour tugs.
Far Sky will end her charter to the Maritime Coastguard Agency at the end of March 2003 when Klyne Tugs (Lowestoft) take over coverage of the United Kingdom with four ETV's.
Klyne Tugs, the UK's largest towage and salvage operator, has won a £75 million contract to provide tugs to protect the British coastline over an eight-year period. The company has had two new tugs built in China at the Yantai Raffles Shipyard. The tugs Anglian Princess and Anglian Sovereign are 67.4 metres in length and are expected to have a bollard pull of 180 tonnes with a speed of 17 knots. The tugs will carry full Coastguard livery not unlike the American Coastguard cutters, having white hulls with red and blue striped insignia forward.
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