History

More than a century of KOTUG history

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1911

FIRST TUG BOAT BY ANTONIE KOOREN

The roots of KOTUG (four generations family Kooren) go back to the initial activities of Antonie Kooren, when he built his first tug in 1911.

1919

FIRST WHITE “K”APPEARS ON FUNNELS

After working for ‘‘Stoomsleepdienst Maas” and “Rotterdamse Sleepdienst”, Antonie decided to set up his own company. He bought a tug “Corrie” in 1919 and from that moment on, the white “K” emblem on the funnels was a fact. These tugs were mainly used for towage and dredging.

1934

FOUNDATION OF “SLEEPDIENST ADRIAAN KOOREN”

By this time, Antonie’s son Adriaan had registered as an independent towing agent, working mostly in offshore and dredging. This also provided employment for his 5 brothers. In 1934 a third tug was bought: ‘’Brabantia’’ (later renamed ‘’Antonie’’). Adriaan Kooren registered ‘Towage Company Adriaan Kooren BV’ in 1934. He...

1944

TUGS SAVED DURING WW2

During the 2nd World War, the Kooren family managed to save their tugs "Frans" and "Adriaan".

1945

FOUNDATION TUGBOAT COMPANY AT BOOMPJES ROTTERDAM

After the war, Antonie Kooren and his 5 sons joined forces and started their own tug boat company. As partner in this venture, Adriaan settled in a wooden office at the ‘’Boompjeskade’’ in Rotterdam.

1953

CONTRACTOR FOR DELTAWERKEN, THE NETHERLANDS

From 1953 to 1986 Sleepdienst Adriaan Kooren carried out many dredging transports as main contractor for the famous "Deltawerken" in Zeeland, The Netherlands.

1977

ESTABLISHMENT INTERNATIONAL MARINE SERVICES

In 1977, Ton Kooren started "Ton Kooren International Marine Services BV", mainly providing worldwide and deep sea towage.

1986

TON KOOREN SUCCEEDS HIS FATHER

In 1986 Adriaan Kooren asked his son Ton Kooren to take over the company Sleepdienst Adriaan Kooren. Both companies merged together with other family-owned companies into the holding Kooren International.

1988

FOUNDATION OF KOTUG INTERNATIONAL

Foundation of KOTUG International B.V., gradually merging the companies Ton Kooren International Marine Services and Sleepdienst Adriaan Kooren. In 1988 Kotug International started with harbour towage in Rotterdam with a new fleet of Z-pellers from USA, introducing the colour of the tugs and the white K emblem in the...

1995

4TH GENERATION JOINS KOTUG

Ton Kooren’s son Ard-Jan Kooren is appointed Commercial Manager of the KOTUG Group.

2002

ARD-JAN KOOREN 4TH GENERATION KOOREN CEO, MARGO KOK – VAN DER WAL JOINS BOARD AS CFO

Ton Kooren retires and is appointed member of the supervisory board of KOTUG. His son Ard-Jan Kooren takes over as President / CEO and Margo Kok-van der Wal is appointed CFO at KOTUG International.

2012

JOINT VENTURE KOTUG TEEKAY MARITIME (KTM)

KOTUG Expands in Australia with Joint Venture KTM

2014

SHELL CONTRACT FOR DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION OF 3 ISV’S.

Shell Australia has awarded a major contract for the design, construction and operation of three Infield Support Vessels (ISVs) to KOTUG Australia (formerly KT Maritime) to support its Prelude FLNG Project, located 475km north-north east of Broome, in Western Australia.

The contract includes the supply of three 42 metre-long, 100-tonne...

2016

ESTABLISHMENT JOINT VENTURE KOTUG SMIT

KOTUG International B.V. (KOTUG) and Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) form a Joint Venture KOTUGSMIT. All harbour towage operations in Northwestern Europe are transferred to this new JV.

2017

OSMAN MUNIR JOINS KOTUG BOARD AS CCO

KOTUG announces the appointment of Mr. Osman Munir as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) in the Board of the KOTUG Group of companies.

2017

KSM JOINT VENTURE CARRIBEAN

KOTUG and Seabulk Towing form Joint Venture in Freeport, Bahamas

2018

KOTUG INTERNATIONAL AND MARANA SET UP JOINT VENTURE PORTX

PortX will optimize port asset utilization with Optiport dispatch planning based on AI.

2018

KOTUG ACQUIRES FULL OWNERSHIP OF KT MARITIME

KOTUG ACQUIRES FULL OWNERSHIP OF KT MARITIME

2019

KOTUG MARITIME SERVICES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

KT Maritime Services Australia Pty Ltd, has changed its name into KOTUG MARITIME SERVICES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

2019

FIRST ASSISTANCE PRELUDE SHELL FLNG FACILITY

KOTUG performed it's first official assistance to Prelude, Shell FLNG facility, the largest floating facility ever built.

2019

KOTUG AND BOSKALIS SELL KOTUG SMIT TOWAGE TO BOLUDA

KOTUG International BV and Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V., 50/50 shareholders of Kotug Smit Towage, intend to sell their shares to Boluda Group (Boluda).

2019

KOTUG AND HORIZON MARITIME START KOTUG CANADA

KOTUG International B.V. (KOTUG) and Horizon Maritime Services Ltd (Horizon Maritime)announce that they have formed ‘KOTUG Canada’, a joint venture company which will offer terminal and harbour towage services across Canada.

2020

KOTUG ACQUIRES MARSOL INTERNATIONAL

KOTUG acquires Marsol International Ltd., a leading offshore and marine terminal service centre, specialized in offshore single point mooring (SPM) terminals and related infrastructure.

2020

KOTUG starts first operation in South America

KOTUG STARTS FIRST OPERATION IN SOUTH AMERICA       October 14, 2020   Continuous terminal support to floating offshore production facilities at the Liza Field in Guyana with newly acquired DP2 ASD Anchor-handling tug “SD Power”   KOTUG has been awarded a long-term contract by Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) to provide offshore...
2021

Game-changing vessel design for the inland shipping industry

KOTUG launches inland shipping division

Today KOTUG announces the establishment of an Inland Shipping division to provide electric powered pusher tugs and smart AI-driven dispatch and route planning applications for the inland water transportation industry. With these logistics solutions, KOTUG aims to support the worldwide energy transition and the modal shift...

2022

KOTUG to acquire Seaways International

An important milestone for KOTUG to strengthen its leading position in global offshore markets.

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