In the sheltered waters of Falmouth Docks the crews of the barge Excalibur and the tug MTS Vanguard are finalising preparations for a mammoth, 8,300-miles tow to Coquimbo, Chile, where both vessels will be engaged in a major drilling contract being undertaken by Falmouth-based Fugro Seacore.

Roeland Vroon, deputy operations manager at MTS Marine and Towage Services said: “This is long tow which, depending on the weather, will take the tug until the end of November to complete. We have several options of where to refuel the tug – either the Canaries, Cape Verde or bunkering ports in the Caribbean.”

MTS Vanguard is the latest edition to the ever-growing MTS fleet. She is a Damen 3209 Shoalbuster multi-purpose tug suited to all types of marine work including towing, anchor handling, dredging support, mooring, wind farm construction operations, marine civil construction. The MTS Vanguard produces 3500bhp with a bollard pull of 50 tonnes.

Marine and Towage Services is an independently owned company providing a wide range of marine services from towage, salvage and civil engineering support to ships agency and pilotage. The company has offices in Falmouth and Brixham.

Coquimbo gained importance in the 1840s as a port for the gold and copper mines in the region.

Today, apart from tourism the port exports large tonnages of fruit and copper.