Europoort tug Steenbank

Thanks to intervention on the part of the Stichting Maritiem Erfgoed Maassluis (the Maassluis Heritage Trust) the former Europoort tug Steenbank (1960) was saved from the demolition scrapper in 2016 and sailed from Haarlem to Maassluis.

Together with her sister ship Schouwenbank, the Steenbank was the first Europoort tug that L. Smit & Co. had built in order to assist the large ships that were expected there. With a length of 30 metres and an installed power of 1250 HP, these beautifully contoured vessels were a welcome addition to the fleet of smaller port tugs that primarily operated for the city ports.

Later, the Smit tugs operating in the Europoort area partnered in a new operating company: the Nieuwe Rotterdamse Sleepdienst (NRS). Until recently, the Steenbank, which left the Port of Rotterdam in 1980, was in service with the Belgian navy but the Belgians got rid of the tug in late 2015.