Farstad Shipping of Norway has put into service ‘ Far Samson’ , the most powerful offshore vessel in the world in terms of bollard pull. In the towage industry bollard pull is the prime criteria by which a tug’s performance is measured. In the case of Far Samson, a bollard pull of 423 tons was achieved on trials but this is no ordinary tug. The vessel carries a ‘Tug’ notation as part of its comprehensive DNV classification but any comparison with a normal tug ends there.