Page 65: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 1995)

ELECTRONICS UPDATE i demands higher."

Although considerably less pow- ul than the 13,000 to 16,000 bhp )erdeen-based tugs that work the :rsh northern North Sea between e Shetlands and the Norwegian ast, Duke is no stranger to blue ater. Last year she undertook a x-month round trip, picking up an

Tshore barge in Brazil and towing to the west coast of Africa before sturning to the U.K. "The satcom ame into its own on that trip," he aid.

But it is in the salvage-related tspects of Duke's work that the jonfidentiality of satcoms has be- :ome crucial. "Modern communica- ;ion has really changed the face of the salvage industry," said Duke's captain,Martin Burnaby-Davies.

The signing of a Lloyd's Open Form (LOF) — the traditional arrange- ment by which salvors and the mas- ter of a stricken vessel agree to postpone financial negotiations in the interests of speed — is rare today. Most salvage work is now carried out under contract. "It's vital that we get accurate information to and from our head office when we're undertaking sal- vage work," said Mr. Burnaby-

Davies. "They need to know just what the situation is if they're going to negotiate a favorable deal, and we need to know exactly what they've agreed we should do. The satcom runs red-hot during a salvage."

He recalled how, on her last trip,

Duke became involved in salvaging the reefer Shofu after engine failure in the English Channel. "The third mate went aboard Shofu and spent about three hours on the satphone to her interests in the U.S. negotiating a deal. Eventually he got the master's signature on a contract, faxed it to head office over our Inmarsat-A, and we got on with the job." Shofu was towed into Zeebrugge, where her cargo of bananas was off-loaded un- damaged.

Mr. Beare stressed the need for confidentiality in a salvage situa- tion. "Although we don't usually discuss rates with a master anyway, there are things you don't want a competitor or even the owner of a vessel in trouble to be aware of. You might want him to sweat for a little in the hope of getting an LOF — which you won't if he knows your tug is round the next headland."

But if a vessel is in real danger, everything takes second place to speed. "The tugs are kept fully mobilized," said Mr. Beare. "Even though the bowthruster engine on the Duke is down and we're doing some other work, if there was a real emergency, she'd go. I'd give them their orders once she was under- way."

Indeed, sometimes the scramble has been so intense that crew mem- bers have unwittingly been left be- hind, "We wouldn't go without the master," said Mr. Beare, "but you can survive without a cook or a third engineer. It has to be a logical decision at the time. But if it's a life- or-death situation and we've got enough people on board to render assistance, we go."

Of course, it's not all drama. From day-to-day, Duke and her fellow tugs operating in Klyne colors live on a diet of varied but routine work. But even then, the need for fast, reliable communication can arise. Mr.Beare recently had cause to rue the lack of an Inmarsat-A aboard the Anglian

Earl. He recounts the story: "A couple of weeks back, Earl was working off Sennen Cove, near

Lands End. Normally that's in cell phone range but, as she was working (Continued on page 68)

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