Smit Internationale N.V. (or Smit International) was a Dutch company operating in the maritime industry. It was founded in 1842 by Fop Smit as a towage company with onl 1 paddle steamer tug KINDERDIJK. Fop’s sons, Jan and Leendert, continued the company under the name L. Smit & Co and expanded the fleet. In 1870, they began using tugs with propellers. After a merger in 1923 with Internationale Sleepdienst, the name was changed to “L. Smit & Co.’s Internationale Sleepdienst”.
One of the tugs used by the Smit Harbour Towage Company was the 1975 built 26.85 metre long tug ZEELEEUW. She was built by Scheepswerf “De Hoop” BV – Hardinxveld as yard number 733 with 146 GRT as AFON BRAINT and purchased in April 1988 from Smit International UK Ltd of which she was chartered by Shell with the SBM on their deepwater Amlwch Oil Terminal at Anglesey, UK.
The single buoy mooring (SBM) enables a tanker to swing around a single point with the tide. The one at Amlwch was 21 metres in diameter and weighed 500 tonnes. To service the buoy tugs including the AFON BRIANT were situated in new storage terminals which were built on the site of the old ship yard in Amlwch Port.
Ownership through Smit International Group was like this – In 1988 by Smit Tak International Bergingsbedrijf NV – Rotterdam; on 29-01-1992 Takmarine BV – Maassluis; on 01-10-2003 Smit Transport Europe BV – Rotterdam.
Infact first time to see her at Grand Harbour, Malta was when she was seen towing the flat top barge TAK 5 with TAKLIFT 7 additional equipment bound for Malta Shipyards for the drillship GSF EXPLORER drill tower operation of which all units were on their maiden call back to May 2005.
Read more about the GSF EXPLORER Drilltower operation here – https://maltashipphotos.com/malta-shipyards-drillship-gsf-explorer-operations-may-2005/
And in January, 2006 she was seen again , this time berthing at DWQ 5 where she was also viewed by Maltese Interests that were interested to buy her.
And in 2010 she was sold to Mic-Oscar International Nigeria Ltd. – Lagos and renamed as AHTS GLORY to work at Takoradi, Ghana
