What just felt like a distant dream in 2010, when Borinken Marine Group LLC started working for the extinct HOVENSA TERMINAL in St. Croix, USVI; has become true. In those days the Company owners that had travelled to Singapore to buy the tug STORM and the barge Caribbean Provider, where able to see first-hand some brand-new tractor tugs at the ASL Shipyard that where being constructed for SVITZER. BMG had just started operations in 2007 and in 2008 the world economy had collapsed. Buying a tug like that to try to market it into the HOVENSA World Class Terminal was beyond BMG’s wildest dreams.
Today the dream has become a reality. In our NEWSLETTER of December 2018, we wrote an article on the visit DAMEN made to Puerto Rico, to meet with BMG and sign the Contract to build the tug DENI. A copy of that article is in the second page of this HIGHLIGHT.
Last Friday, 6 March 2020 at 0920 am, the tug DENI arrived to the dock in Ponce, Puerto Rico after navigating from North Vietnam basically in the other side of the world, thru the Marshall Islands, Honolulu, Manzanillo Mexico, Panama Canal and finally arriving to Ponce, PR. A 12,586 miles voyage that took the DENI and its Crew 83 days across the Sea of Japan, across the Pacific Ocean and into the Caribbean Sea.
The Don Raul is a 74-foot, 2,800 hp, twin-screw seagoing tug, built by Great Lakes Shipyard in 2008. The tug will be leased for one year, with an initial contract award of $3 million, and options to renew for up to four more years, bringing the total contract value to $8.4 million.
Capt. Acosta said
“This is one of the most important milestones in the history of our Company. Our commitment with the US Virgin Islands and our associates of the Caribbean Maritime Community is crystal clear
“2019 was a very tough year for Borinken Marine Group LLC.”, This is an excellent way of starting 2020. We have big plans for the tug DENI. It is a world class tugboat. The only one of its class in the Caribbean Basin. It will help BMG capture segments of the market that were completely out of our reach up until now. We continue to reach for the stars. Dreams do come true sometimes.
Capt. Ruben Iglesias (BMG President) concluded “2019 was a very tough year for Borinken Marine Group LLC.”, This is an excellent way of starting 2020. We have big plans for the tug DENI. It is a world class tugboat. The only one of its class in the Caribbean Basin. It will help BMG capture segments of the market that were completely out of our reach up until now. We continue to reach for the stars. Dreams do come true sometimes.
Capt. Ruben Iglesias (BMG President) concluded
TUG DENI
*** PARTICULARS ***
DAMEN of Holland is one of the best shipbuilders in the world. Their manpower, quality of work, equipment and the materials they use to build their vessels contribute to the birth of some of the best tugs working in the international arena in some of the most challenging and busy ports known to man.On December 10, 2018 in the BMG office of humble Cayey, Puerto Rico, the Contract to build the tug Deni was signed between BMG and DAMEN. The DAMEN ASD 2810 Tug with a bollard pull capacity of 60 Metric Tons is programed to be delivered to the Caribbean in the 3rd Quarter of 2019. The tug DENI will be the newest, state of the art ASD tug in the North-East Caribbean. In trying to stay humble, we did not want to say the whole Caribbean and perhaps a little beyond the Caribbean boundaries.
Without a doubt a very bold move of the BMG Senior Management Group. The tug DENI was named after the mother of Capt. Carlos Acosta, Vice President and Co-Owner of Borinken Marine Group LLC.
Capt. Iglesias said “we believe this is the right moment to make the investment. We believe in the USVI potential, we have excellent tug crews, and we have a solid operations team. Our Customers are counting with us, and they deserve our best effort to provide efficient “state of the art” equipment that they can rely upon, to continue to expand their services and help with the steady growth of the Islands.”DAMEN stands behind their equipment. They will train BMG operators in their simulators and will train BMG Engineers to maintain trouble shoot and repair the tug systems. They will also have support services to assist BMG with “out of the ordinary” problems.Capt. Iglesias stated “BMG was very lucky to find DAMEN. They are a first-class organization. “God willing”, DAMEN will be one of the most important pillars that BMG will use to build its future fleet.”
Mr. Daan Dijxhoorn (DAMEN) travelled from Holland to Puerto Rico to sign the Contract for the tug DENI construction and delivery to BMG. Daan visited our Cayey administrative office and our Caguas engineering and storage facility. He knows there is opportunity for growth and will be standing by for our next order, which like us, he hopes is very soon.
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