Tugs News

Türkiye’s Sanmar Shipyards has delivered Denmark’s first fully electric tug to long-standing client Svitzer, which has been named SVITZER INGRID by Her Majesty Queen Mary at a ceremony in Copenhagen.The tug is based on the ElectRA 2500SX design from Canadian naval architects Robert Allan, developed exclusively for Sanmar.Measuring 25.4 meters in length with a 12.86-meter beam and 5.40-meter draft, it is equipped with a 1,808 kWh battery system, FFV1 fire-fighting capability and a 70-ton bollard pull.Designed to perform up to 90% of operations on battery power…

Robert Allan Ltd. has been awarded a contract to design an AmpRA 3600 tug for Tianjin Port in Northern China.The AmpRA 3600 series tug will be constructed at Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard (Group) Co. Ltd.The order builds on a successful conventional propulsion design for the same owner and shipyard, with two vessels of similar hull form in service.The AmpRA 3600 will have all powering from batteries, with no generator sets onboard, making it a fully battery electric and diesel free ship handling tug.It will be the first Robert Allan Ltd.

SAAM Towage, the largest towage operator in the Americas, has added two new units to its fleet: the SAAM Petrel and the SAAM Charrán. These modern ships, designed by the firm Robert Allan and built at the Sanmar shipyard in Turkey.Their names—SAAM Petrel and SAAM Charrán—pay homage to seabirds native to the coasts of Chile and Peru, following a SAAM Towage tradition dating back 60 years to the company's founding.SAAM Petrel. © SAAM TowageThe SAAM Petrel is on its way to the Port of Arica in Chile.

International tugboat operator Svitzer has taken delivery of its first fully electric tug, built by Turksih shipbuilder Sanmar Shipyars..The SANMAR ElectRA 2500SX is based on a design from Canadian naval architects Robert Allan Ltd.The new tug has an overall length of 25.4 m, with a 12.86 m beam and 5.40 m draft. It has a battery capacity of 1,808 kWh, Fi-Fi1 fire-fighting capability, and can achieve a bollard pull of 70 tons.ElectRA Series tugs are the first of a new generation of eco-friendly tugs from Sanmar…

Kongsberg Maritime has secured a contract to supply 17 shipsets of its US range of azimuth thrusters to Türkiye’s Sanmar Shipyards for a range of international tug projects.The US azimuth thrusters will be supplied across a range of power outputs between 1765kW and 2525kW with a bollard pull ranging between 60 and 85 tons.Sanmar Shipyards is a long-standing customer of Kongsberg Maritime and specializes in tugboat construction with nearly five decades of experience and more than 300 tugs delivered worldwide.Operating two facilities in Tuzla and Altınova…

With the 500th tug designed by Robert Allan and equipped with SCHOTTEL propulsion systems, the Canadian naval architect and German propulsion specialist companies have now reached a very special milestone in their long-standing partnership.Tug number 500 is one of a pair for KOTUG Canada, which are currently being built at Turkish Sanmar shipyards.Based on the RAsalvor 4400-DFM design from Robert Allan, the world's first large purpose-built dual fuel methanol escort tug will service…

SCHOTTEL is equipping the world's first large purpose-built dual-fuel methanol escort tugs based on the Robert Allan Ltd. RASalvor 4400-DFM design for towage company KOTUG Canada with rudderpropellers featuring the mechanical hybrid solution SYDRIVE-M. The tugs—to be named SD Aisemaht and SD Qwiy Aanitsa Sarah—are currently in the final stages of construction at Turkish Sanmar Shipyards. After their completion in Q3 2025, they will service Canada’s Trans Mountain Expansion Project…

Robert Allan Ltd. has announced the delivery of two very compact high bollard pull ship handling tugs, Rascal and Rowdy, to Brusco Tug & Barge in the US.The RAscal 2000-D series tugs were constructed at Diversified Marine Inc. of Portland, Oregon, and at over 40 short tons are the highest bollard pull tugs of this size designed to date by Robert Allan Ltd.These compact tugs are well suited for harbors where smaller though still powerful ship assist tugs are needed, as well as being available for general harbor and coastal towing.

A.P. Møller Holding has, through its wholly owned subsidiary APMH Invest (APMHI), made an all-cash voluntary recommended purchase offer to the shareholders of Svitzer Group to acquire all issued and outstanding shares of the company.A.P. Møller Holding, through its wholly owned subsidiary APMHI, currently owns 47% of the share capital and voting rights of Svitzer.The offer price values Svitzer's total share capital at approximately $1.3 billion (DKK 9.0 billion) and represents a premium of 31.7% against to the closing share price April 1…

The 39-metre tug Silivri has been delivered to The BOTAS Petroleum Pipeline Corporation in Turkey.The TRAktor V3900-DF series tug was recently completed at Uzmar Shipyard to a design by Robert Allan Ltd.Silivri is only the second vessel in the world to combine Voith Schneider propulsion with dual-fuel LNG/diesel engines. This unique arrangement has only been combined once before, on her sistership Sultanhani, delivered earlier in the year to the same owner.Equipped with Wärtsilä 6L34DF engines and 32X6 Voith Schneider propellers…

Technology group Wärtsilä has been selected to supply replacement engines for two inland waterway tug pusher vessels operating in Paraguayan rivers.The vessels are owned by ADM Naviera Chaco (ADM). The vessel modifications and new engine installations will be carried out in Asuncion-Paraguay.The new engines will enable a reduction of the environmental impact and increase the efficiency of the tug pushers.ADM’s stated target is to reduce emissions by 25% by 2035, and the advanced…

Sanmar Shipyards has built and delivered one of its Boğaçay Class tugboats for fellow Turkish tug operator Marin Tug.The two companies have been collaborating for almost two decades, starting in 2006 when Sanmar delivered two 45-ton bollard-pull twin screw tugs to Marin Tug.The latest tug, named İNCEBURUN by its new owner, is much more powerful and part of Sanmar’s new era range of technologically-advanced and environmentally-friendly tugboats.An example of the most advanced Boğaçay MKll model…

The American Waterways Operators (AWO) recently sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom in California, urging him to withdraw the 2022 amendments to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Commercial Harbor Craft rule, particularly in light of CARB’s withdrawal of its requests to enforce emissions rules for California’s truck and rail industries, leaving only harbor craft subject to CARB’s stringent regulations.The AWO is the tugboat, towboat, and barge industry’s advocate for safe, sustainable, and efficient transportation on America’s waterways, oceans and coasts.

Sanmar has delivered one of its multi-purpose Bogacay Series tugs to Norwegian operator Buksér og Berging, where it will work out of the Port of Oslo.Renamed BEVER by its new owner, the tug is the ninth that Sanmar has built for the company. A tenth tug is under construction at Sanmar’s shipyard in Türkiye and is scheduled to be delivered in April 2025.Based on the exclusive-to-Sanmar RAmparts 2400SX-MKII design from Canadian naval architects Robert Allan, BEVER is a twin Z-drive…

New-York-based McAllister Towing and Transportation Company has welcomed a newbuild tractor tug to its fleet under the name of Isabel McAllister.The christening and the launch ceremony for the newbuild tug took place earlier in January, according to an update shared by Brian Buckley McAllister, President at McAllister Towing.Built by Washburn and Doughty Associates, the tug is rated at 6,770 horsepower, boasting an 84 tons bollard pull.It is powered by two, Tier IV Compliant, Caterpillar 3516E engines…

Turkish shipbuilder Sanmar has delivered a new Ice-Class tug to Finland-based operator Alfons Håkans to work in the waters of the northern Baltic Sea.Named AJAX by its new owner, the tug is based on the TundRA 2600 design from Canadian naval architects Robert Allan and has been uniquely designed to meet the operator’s individual needs.Measuring 25.8 m LOA with a moulded beam of 11.8 m, least moulded depth of 5.2 m and navigational draft of 5.05 m, AJAX can perform multiple tasks including escort…

The operator Tug Malta has held a naming ceremony for its latest tug, Med Aldebaran, following its delivery from Damen’s shipyard in Vietnam.With more than 80 tonnes of bollard pull at its disposal, the tug of Damen RSD Tug 2513 type will add significant strength to the company’s operations in Malta’s Port of Marsaxlokk.The tug is a compact, maneuverable vessel combining elements of ASD and tractor tugs.The Med Aldebaran tug has been outfitted with a Damen Marine NOX Reduction System.

Damen Shipyards has delivered six RSD Tugs 2513 to the Port of Antwerp-Bruges in Belgium, including the first fully electric tug that will operate in a European port.The delivery consists of five RSD Tugs 2513 and one RSD-E Tug 2513.With its fully electric propulsion, the RSD-E Tug 2513 paves the way to zero emission operations. The remaining five vessels are also contributing to cleaner operations.As part of the contract scope, Damen has delivered and commissioned the electric tug’s 1.5 megawatt charger and onshore electric infrastructure.

The RSD-E Tug 2513, which Damen delivered to SAFEEN Group earlier in 2024, has won a Guinness World Records title for the most powerful electric tugboat.The record was set by measuring the bollard pull of Damen RSD-E Tug 2513 Bu Tinah. With an average high peak pull of 78.2 tonnes, the vessel demonstrated performance unprecedented for a fully electric tug.The vessel was delivered by Damen to SAFEEN Group, part of AD Ports Group’s Maritime & Shipping Cluster, becoming the first fully electric tug to operate in the Middle East.The record-breaking performance took place at Khalifa Port…

Multraship Towage & Salvage has christened its newest tug, MULTRATUG 36, at its home port of Terneuzen in the Netherlands.The vessel is a Damen ASD Tug 3212, and represents the latest delivery from the order of three tugs Multraship placed with Damen to expand its fleet further to meet additional customer and project requirements.MULTRATUG 36 is a 32-meter tug, with a bollard pull of maximum 89.5 tonnes. This vessel is intended for deep-sea and coastal towage, salvage, and other operations.One of the upcoming projects the tug will support is the Princess Elisabeth Island project…

Lankhorst Ropes is enabling tug crews to receive ‘live’ feedback on the loads experienced by their towing lines using its Sureline real-time rope tension monitoring system.Tug crews can now see, and instantly respond to, the loading on the tow rope. The pen-shaped Sureline sensor is easily installed in the core of the Lankhorst rope in around one minute, ahead of the towing operation. Via an on-vessel tablet display, it provides crews with the ability to precisely monitor the performance of each rope, including rope tension, rope angle, slew angle and peak loads, as it is being used.

Turkish shipbuilder UZMAR Shipyard announced it has delivered the new tugboat Balahu to P&O Reyser for operations at the Port of Barcelona, one of Spain's busiest ports.The Balahu is an asymmetric tractor tug (ATT), designed by Spanish ship design firm Cintranaval to provide exceptional maneuverability, ideal for handling large vessels in high-traffic port environments. It features a propulsion system powered by Kongsberg azimuth stern drive (ASD) units and offers a bollard pull of 73.5 tonnes.The vessel is powered by two MAN Energy Solution 12V175D MM+ 12-cylinder high-speed diesel engines…

Five people were rescued from a tug that lost steering in heavy seas off the coast of La Push, Wash., Friday afternoon.At 4:10 p.m., the 130-foot commercial tug Luther lost steering and was beset by weather while towing a concrete barge 10 miles off the coast of La Push and requested assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard. On scene weather conditions were 10- to 14-foot seas and winds of 45-knots.A 47-foot Motor Lifeboat (MLB) crew from Coast Guard Station Quillayute River, an MH-60 Jayhawk crew from Coast Guard Air Station Astoria…