Orkney Islands Council is looking to purchase a new £8 million tug boat – and a second vessel could also be built if there is enough interest.
It is hoped a tender for the new towing vessel will be awarded in February 2018 and that the vessel will be delivered about a year after contract placement.
The design and build contract is being advertised on the Public Contracts Scotland website.
And interested shipyards are asked to put forward a price proposal for a second vessel, giving the council the option to consider commissioning two new tugs.
Three tugs are currently based in Orkney – the Harald, Einar and Erland – which were built between 1989 and 1992.
Brian Archibald, the council’s Harbour Master and head of Marine Services, Engineering and Transportation, said: “They have served us well and safely, but are now approaching the end of their working lives.
“Our plan is for a phased replacement programme. The council has agreed to purchase a new tug, which, with greater power and manoeuvrability, will have the operational flexibility to further improve the safety and efficiency of towage tasks in local waters and further afield.
“It will be funded from accumulated surpluses, which have been boosted recently by strong levels of harbours activity in Orkney.”
The new vessel is to be designed primarily to carry out complex harbour towage duties but must meet all of the design specifications. These include the overall tug length being about 105ft, with a breadth between 39ft and 46ft.
The Orkney tugs provide a 24-hour, year round towage service, and are involved in a broad range of operations.
In addition to considerable tanker traffic linked to the Flotta oil terminal, Scapa Flow regularly hosts ship-to-ship transfer operations of crude oil, gas and other products, and has proved to be an ideal location for the long term anchorage of accommodation rigs.
Orkney is also the most popular cruise ship destination in the UK and received a record number of visits this year.
The deadline for requests from tenders for the new design and build contract is November 17.