Maribo Maersk swings for Felixstowe Berth 9 in a strong breeze with 3 Svitzer tugs 4th October 2017

The Maribo Maersk arrives from Bremerhaven with a maximum draft of 13.9 metres for Felixstowe Berth 9. The pilot orders 3 tugs for berthing, the first to be made fast centre lead aft at 7&8 Buoys, the second tug to be on the starboard quarter for the corner then make fast inside the harbour on the quarter and the third tug on a bow to bow inside the harbour.

The outbound sister ship Mathilde Maersk Maersk passes the Maribo Maersk near south Shipwash. As the Maribo gets closer to the harbour they change radio channels to 12 and duty tug receives the plan for berthing.

Aft tug Svitzer Kent go out for a powered in-direct while the second tug Svitzer Deben positions on the starboard quarter to make sure the Maribo steered around the 90deg Beach End turn into the harbour. Svitzer Sky makes fast as they round the Beach End.  Coming round onto a Northerly heading, Svitzer Deben says to the pilot that with the inbound OOCL Germany on a maiden voyage to Felixstowe was heading in and wanted a escort tug to meet them at 7&8 Buoys, would it be ok for them to come away from the ships side and Svitzer Shotley to take over as the quarter tug. Svitzer Shotley leaves the pontoon to rush over to assist with Maribo and makes fast on the starboard quarter. Further up the harbour Kent goes straight astern to help reduce the speed for the swing. The pilot then comes astern on the main engines .

Approaching the berth, the pilot gets Sky to position on the starboard shoulder ready for a push while the Kent to move out on to the starboard quarter with the Shotley. As they were moving into their positions the pilot gives them the order to begin the swing with Kent and Shotley to build up to a 75% pull. A few moments later Sky builds up their power on the bow to push the bow around. The pilot uses the bow thrusters to port to help the swing keep the swing going.

After a while the pilot comes ahead on the main engines to give more clearance astern. Almost swung the Sky comes away from the ships side in to a check position while the aft tugs reduce thier pull to let the wind take Maribo towards the berth. Unfortunatally the tugs were in a bit of a hurry as the OOCL Germany was less than 20 minutes away from the harbour and there was no other tugs available so the pilot onboard the Maribo got the shotley to come in for a push to towards the berth as time was of the essence.

Closer to the berth the Shotley comes away from the ships side back in to a check position. As they came alongside the heaving lines for the springs were thrown to the mooring gang to make fast on the bollards. Sky and Kent come in to be released and go to assist with the OOCL Germany which was rounding the Beach End. The Shotley pushes up to hold her alongside while the rst of the lines were made fast.

Final tie up 5 and 2 each end with springs first.