The TSAVLIRIS SALVAGE GROUP has successfully concluded a 5,500-mile towage of the semi-submersible drilling rig "ATWOOD EAGLE", which has been safely redelivered to her owners after arrival in Angola.

The contract was performed by the 40,000 hp "FOTIY KRYLOV", which along with her TSAVLIRIS-operated sister tug "NIKOLAY CHIKER", is the world's largest and most powerful salvage tug. "FOTIY KRYLOV" towed the rig from Elefsis, Greece, to the Angolan capital of Luanda in a voyage lasting just over two and a half months.

"ATWOOD EAGLE" is 325 ft long, 242 ft in beam and 25 ft deep, with an approximate displacement weight in transit of about 14,500 tonnes. The rig has numerous facilities, including diamond-sorting equipment for use during drilling operations.

Prior to the positioning towage, it had undergone a major refit and conversion at Elefsis Shipyards in Greece and was too large for existing facilities to accommodate, necessitating a semi-submersible barge to be brought from Texas to act as a dry-dock.

The project is the latest in a series of highly demanding ocean towages that the TSAVLIRIS Group has successfully performed for a variety of major floating structures in recent times. Other examples include last winter's towage in North America of the drilling rig "EIRIK RAUDE", which was carried out by "FOTIY KRYLOV" and "NIKOLAY CHIKER". This was followed by "NIKOLAY CHIKER's" marathon towage of the Soviet-built aircraft carrier "VARYAG" from the Aegean Sea to China.