It is the fourth 121M project tug built at NIBULON shipbuilding and repair yard. The first three tugs joined NIBULON’s shipping company in 2017.                                                                                                                  “The modernized 121M project tugs, operating together with the two non-self-propelled NBL-91 project vessels, form the most efficient tug and barge convoys on the Southern Buh, being capable of transporting up to 6,000 tons of grain per trip. As a result of developing the elevator infrastructure and increasing the volumes of grain received, NIBULON requires an additional fleet. Considering that these tugs are successfully operated, NIBULON’s shipping company decided to order one more vessel of this project”, tells Oleksandr Taranovskyi, deputy director of NIBULON’s shipping company.The modernized tug’s advantages are its optimized characteristics taking into account operational conditions. The vessel’s dimensions are 29.6 m х 11 m, and the shallow draught is 1.45 m. The tug is also equipped with a movable wheelhouse which can be raised and lowered within 180 seconds thereby ensuring quick and efficient pass through bridges. The vessel is used for mixed (sea-river) navigation and can operate practically in any conditions, in particular in shallow water, ice, and with various barge convoys. The new NIBULON-15 vessel is equipped with the most modern equipment. Its engines and propulsion unit produced by world’s leading manufacturers to ensure its high-capacity operation, Indeed, the main engines and diesel generators were produced by Volvo Penta (Sweden) and the rudder propellers produced by ZF Marine Krimpen B.V. (the Netherlands).Once the new order is put into operation, the company’s tug fleet will number 24 vessels, and the total fleet will comprise 83 vessels used for various operations. This is Ukraine’s newest and most modern fleet that has enabled NIBULON to completely change the cargo transportation logistics in Ukraine by transporting about 70% cargoes by water.   Since it commenced operations, the shipping company has transported 20.4 million tons of cargoes by inland waterways, thereby removing the equivalent of more than 850  thousand trucks from Ukrainian highways.