Cummins Vessel Reference #595

The Italian firm of An.DoFe. Shipping Management s.r.l. was founded in 2007 by Rino Barretta. With 25 years of experience in towage firms, he quickly acquired two ocean going tugs. One of these, the China new build anchor handler Independence was powered by a pair of Cummins QSK60 M engines giving the vessel 4400 HP and a bollard pull in excess of 68 tons. The boat also had three Cummins-powered generators. Actual ownership of the M/V Independence was registered to Sedna Towage & Offshore LDA in Portugal.

The tug was built in China, registered in Portugal and managed from Italy. Following her delivery in 2008, she worked out of a number of UK ports. Very well set up with a double drum waterfall type deck winch having a line pulling power of 65 MT and brake holding capacity of 180 MT the vessel was advertised for operations world wide.

As of July 2010, she was working in German waters on the Nord Stream sub-sea pipeline project under contract to Saipem Castoro X. In the two years since her delivery from the Chinese yard, to a Portuguese Company, with Italian Management and current German location, the Independence has transited and worked in numerous countries. While this is not uncommon for an ocean going tug, it does present some logistical problems, not the least of which is the proper maintenance and support for her engines.

Customer Account Manager Tim O’Conner is based in the US with Cummins’ Marine Business section. He recalls that, “The Independence was a new vessel in the UK almost two years ago, with a few minor issues that were unresolved from the shipyard. Because she was traveling from port to port and Cummins distributor to distributor, it was difficult to stay on top of the troubleshooting etc. With some very good support from Cummins Diesel UK we were able to develop a Customer Support Plan. We provided a copy to An. Do. Fe. so that they would know the proper contacts in each port. We also assisted them by recommending an onboard spare parts list and publications, Quick Service on line connection and Marine Website familiarization.

“We were also involved with reconnecting the customer with the shipyard for some non-Cummins electronics issues, as well as with Fleet parts pricing when they began to stock on board spares from the local distributor.

“The important thing was quick responses and follow up to the issue that the customer was experiencing. An. Do. Fe. was very realistic on what it takes to accomplish logistics and prepare long term support. The Customer Support Plan (CSP) system that is now in use by Cummins Inc. can be a great support tool, and is even more useful whenever we have a customer like An. Do. Fe. that is interested in developing the CSP. This helps both the customer and the supporting distributors who will continue to refer to the online CSP for information and support.”

An.Do.Fe. Shipping’s Technical Superintendent Giuseppe Brandi is pleased with the resulting CSP. After experiencing those initial service issues he now says, “Now, any world wide location we are in, Cummins offers a fast and skilled service.”

For further information:

Giuseppe Brandi
Technical Superintendent
An Do. Fe. Shipping Management S.r.l
Via Tor Pisana, 102
Phone: 39 0831 58 7663
Mobile: 39 327 778 6488
E-mail: giuseppe@andofe.it

Tim O’Connor
Customer Account Manager (EMEA)
Cummins Inc. Marine Business
Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Phone: 843 745 1190
E-mail: timothy.j.oconnor@cummins.com