In the North Sea ports of Bremerhaven, Rotterdam and Hamburg, monopoly powers in towage operations are breaking up. The days when tug operations in the main North Sea ports were served by local pools of pilots to the exclusion of all others seem to be over. This would seem to be to the benefit of the shipping lines, as the cost of using a pilot in these ports has fallen dramatically with the entry of two Dutch companies, Kotug and Smit Internationale earlier this year. Kotug and Smit have introduced new tug boats to the German ports of Bremerhaven and Hamburg, respectively.
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