ITS awards: recognising innovation, safety and decarbonisation

The efforts of tug owners, salvage companies, ports and innovators were recognised during the ITS 2026 awards, held alongside the towage industry’s premier gala dinner

Svitzer’s 2026-built battery-methanol escort tug, Svitzer Balder, has been named as the International Tug & Salvage (ITS) 2026 tug of the year at a gala dinner in its home port, in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Uzmar Shipyard built this 35-m tug to a TRAnsverse 3500 design, developed by Robert Allan Ltd in conjunction with Svitzer, and it completed sea trials in early April before sailing to the Swedish port.

ABS-class Svitzer Balder has 88 tonnes of bollard pull and over 150 tonnes of steering force, enabling it to undertake heavy-duty escort and handling of large tankers calling at the port.

It has a 6,000-kWh battery system supplied by AYK Energy, two 350-kW Scandinaos methanol gensets, and a 2,000-kW Everllence-manufactured diesel genset to power two Kongsberg Maritime ice-class, 2,680-kW azimuth thrusters and deck machinery.

Executive representatives from Svitzer, Robert Allan and Uzmar received the Bureau Veritas-sponsored ITS Tug of the Year Award 2026 during the gala dinner.

Other shortlisted vessels were: Buksér og Berging’s BB Power; Svitzer’s Isla Popa; SAAM Towage’s Trapananda; Kotug Canada’s SD Aisemaht; Svitzer Australia’s Svitzer Barrington; Boluda Towage’s VB Bolu; and Port of Lulea’s Victoria.

Multraship Towage & Salvage won the Med Marine-sponsored ITS Tug Owner of the Year Award 2026 for its investment in a modern fleet of tugs, salvage-response assets, and skilled crews to complete towage assignments supporting marine construction and offshore projects during 2025 and Q1 2026.

It played a key role in the development, planning and execution of the Princess Elisabeth Island, Fehmarnbelt and Oosterweel Link projects in Belgium.

This was alongside the Terneuzen, the Netherlands-headquartered company’s daily harbour and sea towage, offshore support, emergency readiness and salvage activities.

Multraship is also investing in alternative fuels and research to reduce emissions from its fleet operations, including increased use of hydrotreated vegetable oil fuels, shore power, investment in IMO Tier III-compliant tugs, fuel monitoring and crew awareness programmes.

Other tug owners nominated were: Boluda Towage, for its investment in newbuild tugs with hybrid propulsion; Moran Towing, for accelerating its tugboat fleet expansion in the US in 2025; PSA Marine, for setting global standards in safe, reliable and sustainable towage in some of the world’s busiest ports; SAAM Towage, for introducing low-emissions tugboat operations across the Americas; and Svitzer, for committing to battery-powered TRAnsverse tugs for its fleet renewal programme.