Shipowner Panos Laskarides gifts support vessel to Hellenic Navy

The ship donated to the Navy is the Stril Neptune which was built in 1999. It is a ship measuring 70.4 meters long and 16 meters wide, with a displacement load of 3.010 tonnes, which was built to act as a tugboat. and as a support and rescue platform for offshore oil rigs (Platform Support Vessel).

The ship was designed and built with the flexibility to carry out a variety of offshore missions even in adverse weather conditions.

The ship has a multipurpose deck of 580 square meters (44.3 meters X 13.1 meters), can carry a load of 655 tons on board, has a 15-meter HMC 1301 LK35-15 crane capable of lifting 3.5 tons and a large number of tanks of various types with a total capacity of 6,000 cubic meters.
 
The Stril Neptune propulsion system consists of two main Caterpillar type 3608 DITA engines each delivering 2710 bkw –3686 BHP running on two axles, as well as two Caterpillar 3406 DIT auxiliary engines each yielding 277 bkw and a final 3 C4 four-cylinder engine 116 bkw performance propelled by three auxiliary propellers which in combination with an expanded azimuth system allow the ship to remtain dynamic positioning above any point in the seabed.

The ship has significant capabilities for offshore fuel transfer, fire fighting and towing and can also be used to rescue over two hundred persons at sea. The speed of the ship is about 14 knots. It is noteworthy that a few years ago a Greek shipbuilding office had presented its plans for a similar capacity ship which had been presented to the Ministry of Defense.

The Greek shipbuilding agency had studied the requirements of the Hellenic Navy and designed a modular ship capable of carrying out a multitude of missions gaining significant experience in designing and configuring vessels of this category to meet the requirements of the Navy in the areas of rescue, towing, support, offshore fuel transfer, fire fighting, transportation of materials and equipment.