Member Article

£3.5 million nautical investment for Hessle-based SMS Towage named ‘Yorkshireman’

Hessle-based SMS Towage has formally named their latest investment in its growing fleet.

The £3.5 million Yorkshireman, built in Turkey to a classic Canadian design, arrived in the Humber in March this year.

She was blessed at Albert Dock, Hull, by the Rev Canon Neal Barnes of Holy Trinity and named by four-year-old Annabelle Escreet Writer.

It was another landmark occasion for Hessle-based SMS, which has experienced rapid growth in the last two years, starting operations in the Bristol Channel and Belfast Harbour to complement its services on the Humber.

Yorkshireman is now working out of Immingham where her 50-tonne bollard pull rating means she can bring large bulk carriers and tankers in excess of 170,000 tonnes deadweight and 270m in length in and out of the estuary.

SMS’s fleet of 14 tugs includes three others of the same design: the Masterman, Scotsman and Statesman.

SMS director Gareth Escreet said: “They are small, compact and powerful tugs, they have the power to berth the larger bulk carriers and tankers onto the riverside terminals and they have the maneuverability to handle the more intricate operations guiding vessels into and out of Hull and Immingham Docks.”

“As a local company, we are extremely pleased to have brought the Yorkshireman to the estuary as part of our growth and renewal strategy.”

“It’s another large investment for us and being able to do it is a real sign of the strengthening Humber economy.”

SMS Towage chose Yorkshire Day for the naming ceremony.

SMS Towage was established in 2003 and now employs 130 with its headquarters at Livingstone Road, Hessle. The new tug is the fourth to be named Yorkshireman, dating back to a padde tug in 1926.

Vital statistics for the Yorkshireman and her sister boats include: length 25m, breadth 9.15m, draft 4.4m, speed 13 knots, bollard pull 50 tonnes. Main engines are Caterpillar with Rolls-Royce stern drive units and Perkins auxiliary engines.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .