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, suc ...

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 2021 due to various reasons. History Tebma was incorporated in 1 ...

, a subsidiary of

Bharati Shipyard Bharati Defence and Infrastructure Limited (formerly Bharati Shipyard Limited) is one of the largest shipbuilding companies in India. History Bharati Shipyard Limited (BSL) was founded in 1973 in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra by Prakash C. Kapoor and ...

Ltd, for the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

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 (usually in tonnes-force or kilonewtons (kN)) exerted by a vessel under full power, on a shore-mounted bollard through a tow-line, ...

. 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 The Eastern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The command is responsible for the all naval forces in the Bay of Bengal and parts of the Indian Ocea ...

Vishakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is between the Eastern Ghats and the coast of t ...

, 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. Southern Naval Command is the largest naval command in India and it has its headquarters in Kochi, Kerala at INS Venduruthy. It is the Training Comman ...

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

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