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Klyne Tugs were a relatively unknown towing company who,
like others, had purchased hardware when it became available
at moderate prices until they gained the MCA contract to
provide emergency towing services round the UK. This service
was required by the government after the loss of the Braer
at the Southern point of the Shetland Islands in 1993.
To support this service they
had a number of ships built in the far east and utilised the
best of their second hand tonnage. They also purchased one
of the Maersk L Class which became the Anglian Earl and
which has been used for general towing duties and well as
supporting the Coastguard operations. (Written February
2010)
For some reason I had not
bothered to register the purchase of Klyne Tugs at the end
of 2007 by J P Knight, who bill themselves as Britain's
oldest tug owner. Obviously the deal must have been
motivated by the MCA contract. In June 2011 the company sold
the Anglian Prince, motivating me to update the page at
last.
At the time of the purchase
Peter Cardy the chief executive of the MCA said "There will
be plenty of opportunity to build on this service with the
combined resources of JP Knight and Klyne". The contract with
the MCA is terminated in September 2011.
At the time of the 2013
review the AHTS fleet had been reduced to two due to the
removal of the government ETV contract one assumes. Of
course the Prince is back under a different name and flag.
At the time of the 2014
update the two remaining anchor-handlers have been sold to
an American company znd also their tug fleet on the Cromarty
Firth has been disposed of. They say that they intend to
continue to operate their tug an barge fleet in South
America - this ince this is of no interest to us, this page
becomes history.
Updated 3rd October 2014. |