Author Captain Henk Hensen offered the fourth and fully revised edition to Ard-Jan Kooren, President & CEO of KOTUG International on deck of KOTUG’s training vessel the RT BORKUM. The book is considered to be the authoritative guide for everyone who sails a tug since it is a full reference book aimed to increase practical knowledge and safety of operations.
The IMO mentioned ‘Tug Use in Port’ to be an authoritative guide on tug operations. It addresses present and future developments, demonstrates how training could be carried out, what should be trained, where the risks are and why. It explains the various tug types, capabilities and limitations, towing equipment and much more. In addition to earlier editions, the fourth edition also discusses decision support systems on board tugs, full electric tugs, tug operations in swell, stopping a ship by tugs, new escort and carrousel tugs, and assisting navy ships. Not by chance the small ceremony took place on KOTUG’s RT BORKUM, the high-end training vessel of the KOTUG Training & Consultancy division.
I’m sure they think maritime academies will make them the “required textbook” at around $150 per copy from the school bookstore, ensuring they will be bought by student loans, skimmed over and immediately sold back after the semester for $30 and resold again to the next class for $150. Thus ensuring that barely any real working mariners will ever read them.
Can any forum member give a personal review of this authoritative guide? I once read a AHTS guide by Wilhelmsen & that book was awesome. Every dummy on a tug or AHTS should read that book. I later paid $60 for the authoritative guide for VSAT’s & that book had almost no practical knowledge in it. It was all theory on the design of satellites & didn’t help me at all on keeping the ships communications running.
I have not see the book, but I hope to borrow and read it. It will be interesting to me.
That said, I doubt that many Americans would find the book to be “authoritative “ or even useful. European ship assist practices are mostly quite different.
Many of the books put out by Cornell Maritime Press aren’t insanely expensive. I kept most of them and still reference some today to refresh. I’d rather see a book about tugs from CMP over this book.
Good grief, this reminds me of a book a poster was looking for a while back… “Ship Handling in Narrow Channels” by Carlyle Plummer. Still can’t find it, effing Amazon wants $750 for a copy. When clearing out one of my rentals left my copy for a fishing charter captain. What a mistake. Would loved to have passed it down at no charge other than shipping costs… Acquired it in early 70’s. Ears still open, most of my pals that attended the class that required that book are gone.
I have the 2nd edition. I am not a tug mariner, but used it to study for exams. Goes into depth about general maneuvers and is heavy into the physics of the tow point, lateral center of pressure, and how tugs affect pivot point. This is more geared towards pilots than tug boaters, but still an excellent read for any mariner interested in ship assist and escort.
