Provision of Emergency Towage Vessel (ETV) Services for the UK.

The required ETVs must be multi-purpose response vessels capable of towing disabled ships, with towage capabilities ranging from 150t-220t bollard pull. Their primary role will be to reduce the risk of pollution by intercepting ships which have become disabled before they ground or collide with other ship traffic and towing them to a safe haven. The ETVs will also have a number of secondary duties including (but not limited to) firefighting, counter-pollution, hydrographic survey support and basic salvage operations. They will also be used to standby a disabled vessel in case the problem on board cannot be rectified and towage intervention might be required, and to act as a guard vessel to warn other shipping if an incident is in a shipping lane. Additional information: The contract will be for a period of 8 years and the MCA reserve the right to split the tender requirement into Lots.