Heller 1/200 Smit Rotterdam/Smit London

As ships and oil platforms grew ever larger in the 1970s, tugboats had to be developed to assist them. With a combined power output of 22,000 hp, the tugboats SMIT ROTTERDAM and SMIT LONDON, sister ships, were built in 1975 by the De Merwede shipyard in Hardinxveld-Giessendam, Netherlands. These two ocean-going tugboats were for a long time the largest and most powerful in the world. They were specifically designed to tow very heavy structures such as offshore platforms over long distances and in all weather conditions, and to assist ships in distress, regardless of the ocean. After a career spanning almost 40 years, they were scrapped in India in 2013 and 2014.