Orkney Towage Company Ltd. Since this time, Towage services, now as a division of Marine Services with in the framework of Orkney Islands Council is now primarily engaged in providing the towage services for the Oil Port of Scapa Flow. Their duties include assisting in the berthing and sailing of oil tankers and gas tankers from the Jetty and Single Point Mooring operated now by Talisman Sinopec UK Ltd plus the berthing and sailing of oil tankers involved in Ship-to-Ship operations and escort duties for oil tankers arriving and departing Scapa Flow.
Towage Services is signatory to the CAST agreement Coastguard Agreement for Salvage and Towage , and under the CAST agreement the MCA may call upon their services subject to availability to assist in salvage operations were a vessel is in danger of causing pollution, danger to other shipping or to assist in counter pollution duties. On occasions when the service of a tug is not required in Scapa Flow, Towage Services are available for third party usage within the area of the North of Scotland.
The three 55 tonne bollard pull tugs and their crews are also a key part of the Oil Pollution Response Contingency Plan for Scapa Flow, each tug has a knuckle boom crane which can be used for deploying pollution equipment as well as transporting equipment to the location of a pollution incident. Tug crews are involved in regular oil pollution training exercises with the Orkney Islands Council Department of Marine Services. The installation of the Openhydro tidal device at the Falls of Warness and the further installation of the EMEC wave testing device on Orkney's west coast demonstrated the versatility and experience of the towage crews at their best.
Orkney Towage operates a 24 hour towage service in Scapa Flow with 3 azimuth stern drive tugs, Einar, Erlend and Harald. The crews serving on board these vessels are certified to STCW 95 standards. Orkney Towage is ISM code compliant. The tugs each develop a total of hp through twin stern 'aqua-masters'.
This equates to a bollard pull of 55t ahead and 47t astern. Each tug is equipped with towing equipment capable of withstanding loads in excess of tonnes. Tug lines are used for most of the operations carried out in Scapa Flow. Each tug is also equipped with fire fighting monitors and can also be used for counter pollution duties. On occasion, the tugs assist with general port services such as supplying fresh water or gas oil. The following table outlines the number of tugs available for specific ship movements in Scapa Flow.
