The ''Bhim'' class of

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

s is a class of service watercraft built by

Tebma Shipyard Limited Tebma Shipyards Limited is a Chennai based shipbuilding company in India. The company has delivered more than 150 vessels, mainly offshore support vessels. It was shut down in June 2018 due to various reasons. History Tebma was incorporated in ...

, a subsidiary of Bharati Shipyard Ltd, for the

Indian navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates si ...

Description

Each vessel is 28.5 metres long and has a beam of 9.5 metres and a draught of 2.8 metres. Each tug in the class has a capacity of 25 tonnes

bollard pull Bollard pull is a conventional measure of the pulling (or towing) power of a watercraft. It is defined as the force (in tonnes force, or kilonewtons (kN)) exerted by a vessel under full power, on a shore-mounted bollard through a tow-line, commonl ...

. The vessel are fitted with a pair of V-12 cylinder Cummins KTA38M2 engines, each generating 1200 HP continuous duty at 1800 RPM. They are fitted with stainless steel propellers and also features Aquamaster US1201 Z-drives with 1800mm diameter nozzles. They also have two 100 kVA, 415 V, 3 Phase, 50 Hz diesel powered auxiliary generator sets. It is a follow-up order of B.C. Dutt class tugboat

Service history

SRP''Bhim'' and SRP ''Ajral'' serve with the Eastern Naval Command at

Vishakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura submarine museu ...

, and SRP ''Balshil'' serves with the

Southern Naval Command The Southern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It has its headquarters in Kochi, Kerala at INS Venduruthy. It is the Training Command of the Indian Navy. The Command is commanded by a Three Star Fla ...

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

Boats in the class

Other specifications

*Auxiliary power installed: 100 kW, 415 V, 3 Phase, 50 Hz diesel *Fuel carrying capacity : 25 tons *Water carrying capacity : 12 tons

References

Sainik Samachar - Balshil joins Navy
- Retrieved on 2009-04-27.

- Retrieved on 2009-05-05.
First Bhim class tug delivered

External links