As every year the National Dutch Towage Museum did her utmost to provide again for a succesful nautical day on May 20st 2017 in Maassluis. The supervision of this event is in the hands of the "Foundation Tugboat Harbour Maassluis." (SSM, in Dutch: Stichting Sleepboothaven Maassluis).
In May the traditional Nautical Day is being organized by the maritime foundations in Maassluis, united in the SSM.
On this day the visitor will enjoy a unique towing and tugboat scene. The old motor and steam tugboats as well as modern ones can be seen and visited and one can join a river tour on a number of these boats, the VOLHARDING, FURIE, ELBE and DOCKYARD. For a few euros per person you can join these tours. More than 400 tickets are available, that can be obtained at the National Dutch Towage  Museum. Unfortunately however, all tickets are already sold by now.
Also there are nautical activities for children of all ages.
In the afternoon, at about 16.30 h., there will be a large parade of all kinds of tugs. big and small, old and modern.
In any case, it will be a day that is not to be missed by the real maritime and tug lover!

Last Sunday, September 6th the exhibition about the tug company Kotug Rotterdam came to an end, on September 20th a new exhibition will be opened for the next half year, about the history of the tug companies in Amsterdam and IJmuiden (the North Sea Canal area). The official announcement and details will be published shortly.

In the meantime, to memorize one more time, the story about Kotug was als follows:

On November 22nd, 2014 the National Dutch Towage Museum in Maassluis opened her doors to present her latest exhibition, that highlights the history, facts and innovations of the well known Dutch tugboat company Kotug (Sleepdienst Adriaan Kooren).

About the towage company Kotug in Rotterdam two very interesting stories will be told.
In the first place the exhibition memorizes the rich history of the nowadays in Holland and abroad very famous company of the Kooren family, that stretches over more than a century.
But, last but not least, the museum also pays attention to the innovative role that Kotug plays worldwide, concerning revolutionary propulsion systems for tugboats.

The National Dutch Towage Museum has succeeded in creating a splendid exposition, in which both stories are woven into a thorough image of this new "Dutch Glory". The name of the exhibition is - very appropriate - "With four generations of the Kooren family from steam to hybrid".

The visitor will be led into the world of Kotug by videos, many beautiful and unique large scale photographs, documents and impressive tug models.
The exhibition guide book also contains a visualized and detailed explanation of the propulsion systems of the tugboats of Kotug, like the Z-peller, Voith-Schneider, Stern Drive en Rotortug®.

The story begins in 1911 when Antonie Kooren bought his first steam tugboat and named her "Mathilda", after his wife's name. 90 ships more were to follow in the century thereafter, some in charter, but most of them in ownership. And until today, as a tradition, the first names of Kooren family members appear on the bow of a number of tugs.

From the beginning the Kooren tugboats were marked by the black funnel and the K in white over it. An ideogram that was leading for many years for the tugboats of the Kooren family.

In de first decades of their existence the Kooren tugboats were mainly occupied in the dredging industry on the Dutch rivers and in the harbours.

In 1962 Kooren employed the first seagoing tugboat, the MARIUS of 510 hp. This was the start of the coastal and sea towage activities of the company.

On January 1st 1988 Kooren initiated her harbour towing services in the Rotterdam area. For that purpose Kotug made an investment in six modern powerful Z-peller tugboats, that were bought from a shipyard in the U.S.A., named after famous American whine districts. Since then the hull of all tugs of Kotug is painted in the characteristic striking red colour, the funnel being blue with the white K. From this moment also the hegemony of the existing Smit towage company in Rotterdam was broken.

From the year 1995 Kotug expanded her activities more and more abroad, and nowadays offers towing services in Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven, London, Kameroen, Brunei and Australia.

Kotug is also worldwide known for her pioneer position in the field of developing revolutionary effective and efficient propulsion systems for tugboats.
The patented Rotortug® is a tugboat type that has been developed by Kotug. Characteristic are the three 3 Azimuth rudder propellers (each of them able to make a 360 degrees turn), two next to each other under the forepart of the ship and one aft in the middle, for optimal maneuverability.
Kotug also designed an improved diesel-electric (hybrid) tugboat. The term "hybrid" applies to the propulsion system, being a very energy-low combination of diesel engines, electro-engines and batteries.
De patented towing ring, the so called Ko-LINK, is another Kotug invention that provides an extra connection between the hawser and the forerunner, that diminishes wearing and breakage of expensive towing cables.

In 2014 Kotug director Ard-Jan Kooren was honoured with the prestigious King William I award, a prize for entrepreneurs who show boldness, ambition, perseverance, durability and innovative power. Earlier, in 2013, he was decorated with the reward "Rotterdam harbour man of the year 2012", a title that his father before him was assigned to in 1999.

Nowadays Kotug is also known for a number of prestigious projects, many of them carried out under massive public interest. We mention the towage of large objects like bridge parts for the new Botlek Bridge in Rotterdam and tunnel parts for the Amsterdam second Coen tunnel. Kotug also towed the old "Rotterdam", former flagship of the Holland America Line, from Hamburg to Rotterdam, where it can be visited nowadays. The other day Kotug rendered assistance to the docking of the largest cruiseship in the world, the "Oasis of the Seas".

From Saturday November 22th the exposition will be open to the public. More information comes available on this website soon.

In the National Dutch Towage Museum a respectable quantity of knowledge about the Dutch towage industry has been assembled and recorded, now and in the past. This knowledge is disclosed in a number of collections and applications, that are available for the visitors and the volunteers of the museum. The most important you will find in this menu.

Apart from the digital information systems the National Dutch Towage Museum is in the possession of a big number of ship models, objects, books, magazines, paper clippings, photographs, technical schemes, and so on.

In the museum, by telephone or by mail from this website, the visitor can ask for specific information about ships, their career, voyages/projects and crew. On the basis of our extensive documentation we will often be able to help you to find out more about ships, and for instance also about family members or friends, who were on board of Dutch tugboats.

The open-work model of the former Smit seagoing tug NOORDZEE that is to be seen in the National Dutch Towage Museum has been equipped with an internal illumination system. The project started in 2012.

Due to the high current usage and the heat production of traditional filament lighting it was decided to use LED illumination. LED can easily be electronically controlled and varied in strength. During the year 2012 a total of 25 LED lights have been mounted in the model. Special tools had to be developed to make the small spaces within reach and to connect the LEDs to the cabling system. In most cabins and working spaces of the model LED has been fitted.
The complete LED system is connected to a switchboard and has been completed on August 5th 2014. About 65 metres of cabling has been installed in the NOORDZEE! By pressing the buttons on the switchboard the visitor will be able to enlighten the chosen locations in the model individually. It is also possible to activate all 25 LED's at the same time,  that will create a fairy-like view.

The complete story is published in the September 2014 Newsletter. This document is not (yet) translated in English. Please accept our excuses for this.