Organising
Tugs and tugmen
Big ships are designed to cross oceans safely, and survive great
storms at sea. However, this means they are not easy to manoeuvre
into the tight spaces of ports and harbours. To assist them, ports
have very powerful and manoeuvrable little vessels called tugs. The
crews of tugs are very skilled at pulling and pushing big ships
through harbour entrances and locks, and berthing them at exactly
the right spot on a dock wall. All major and many minor ports have tugs, some operated by the
harbour authority, others by private concerns. Tugs are not
confined to ship handling. The more powerful ones undertake
long-distance tows of structures like drilling rigs, or ships which
have no power of their own. Tugs are also often involved in
rescuing ships in difficulty. They also help to salvage vessels
which have gone aground. 
 Tug boat `Paladin` |
Life for a tugman is a little like going to sea, but with home
very close. Discipline and work is much the same as on a big ship,
with much emphasis on teamwork. Tugs are mostly on call day and
night, whenever a ship needs to berth or sail. Their crews will
usually be on board for periods of say 24 hours, having cabins to
sleep in when they are not working. Tugs are not as numerous as they once were. To make up for this
they are more powerful and much more manoeuvrable, thanks to
advances in drive systems. One of the reasons fewer tugs are needed
is because ships are often fitted with devices which make them more
manoeuvrable. For example, many will have bow thrusters. This is a
propellor fitted in a tube across the hull near the bow. Depending
which way it turns, this can bring the bow towards a berth or away
from it.
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