Engage Rascal is one of two new state-of-the-art tugs working to prevent a disaster like the bridge collapse in Baltimore.
We are three metres from the stern of the Majestic Princess, which looms above us in Circular Quay, all 143,700 tonnes of it and capable of carrying 3560 passengers – plenty of whom are looking down at us.Credit:They are captivated by the citrus orange Engage Rascal, one of two new $16 million tugs working on the harbour and here to prevent a disaster such as the bridge collapse in Baltimore, which happened when a container ship struck one of its piers.
Tug master Dom McCarron runs everything from his control console with head-up displays and a joystick. “Every move is different,” he says. “It’s all in close quarters situations. We can talk to the pilot on the cruise ship, we don’t have to take our hands off the controls. There’s only three of us on board. We work together. If something goes wrong we have to rely on each other.
“We hook up in large swell conditions and at high speed. We are often dealing with foreign crews, so there could be a language issue. We are basically there as a shepherd.”Rascal and twin ship Renegade, operated by Engage Marine at White Bay, were built last year by Dutch company Damen in Vietnam and went into service in March.
Rascal is dwarfed by the cruise ship but is 28 metres long and 13 metres wide. Its forward and aft winches can each exert a pull of 31 tonnes, but from two bollards it can exert a pull of up to 81 tonnes. It can sleep 10, the skipper’s berth has an ensuite, and the kitchen has a dishwasher and washing machine. With twin water jets, Rascal can fight fires at sea, and it can turn on a 10¢ piece.
“A lot of the time we are doing nothing, and it is easy to fall into complacency and get carried away with the view, but when it goes wrong it tends to go wrong generally very quickly. We train for the worst and hope nothing happens – but when it does happen we are ready to go.”
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