Voltaire's assertion that "with great power comes great responsibility" could well have been applied to the tug sector over the past 20 years. Within this period, tug function and design have evolved significantly. Back in the 1980s, there was much more variance between tugs in terms of size and power; small tugs escorted smaller ships, while more powerful and larger tugs handled larger vessels. It was common to see a number of tugs - sometimes as many as six - escorting one large vessel and sharing the load between them, and the average tug bollard pull (bp) rating was in the region of 30-50 tonnes.
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