Marine Bulk Carriers orders second AHTS vessel

According to MBC's chairman, Lester Peteni: "Demand for anchor handling tugs around southern Africa, in particular South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique, continues to grow and this has given MBC and its partners the confidence to order a second AHTS vessel only three months after ordering the first."

News of the second order was announced at MBC's 10th anniversary function, held recently in Cape Town.

Crewed by South Africans

The 78m, 12 000 horsepower AHTS vessels, which are being built by Guangxin Shipbuilding of Guangdon in China, will be South African owned and crewed by South Africans.

MBC's sister company, Marine Crew Services (MCS), will man the vessel with local officers and ratings and also provide training berths for cadets and ratings as further proof of MCS's commitment to investing in the local maritime sector.

The new AHTS vessels are due for delivery in late 2015 and have been purposely designed to meet the requirements of the South African offshore industry in terms of power, deck space and winch capacity.