ITS Awards celebrate outstanding vessels, owners and innovators

Multraship Towage & Salvage was voted Salvage Company of the Year for completing several high-profile operations, including tackling the Fremantle Highway car carrier fire with Smit Salvage; rescuing stranded Oceaan II tug and drifting Perseus pilot vessel in challenging conditions; salvaging sunken Jogo 4 barge which was blocking a vital waterway; and rapidly mobilising six tugs to control Torm Loke tanker which broke away from its moorings.

Smit Salvage was shortlisted for its high-profile projects requiring urgent mobilisation and methodical planning, including removing oil from FSO Safer and responding to ship fires with specialised fire-fighting craft.

Tsavliris Salvage was shortlisted for its response to emergencies, including towing drifting Gazibey to shelter in adverse North Sea weather. Another shortlisted nominee was Resolve Marine for mobilising assets and personnel to respond to ship fires, sunken tugs and for its environmental remediation work, including removing sewage and oily waste from the Aleutian Islands and surrounding areas.

UAE-based Mubarak Marine was shortlisted for its leadership in the Middle East and completing complex salvage and wreck removal projects, including rescuing a grounded container ship in a politically sensitive area.

Harbour leaders

The Ports & Harbour Award 2024 was presented to DP World Global Port Network for its partnership with renewable energy leader Masdar to accelerate deployment of solar power with energy storage across ports in the Middle East and Africa. DP World is progressing towards carbon neutrality in 2040 and net zero in 2050 through this and other initiatives.

This award recognises a port or harbour that has set industry benchmarks in safety, security, environment, efficiency and operational excellence in the past 12 months.

Sohar Port in Oman was shortlisted for demonstrating safety and efficiency and its commitment to sustainability through green rebates and renewing a 15-year towage contract with Svitzer that includes five new tugs with low emissions.

Port of Singapore was shortlisted for its leadership in preparing for a multi-fuel future; backing the first LNG-hybrid tug JMS Sunshine; electrifying harbour craft; and bunkering the first green methanol-fuelled container ship, Laura Maersk, on its maiden voyage from South Korea to Denmark in 2024.

Port of Gothenburg in Sweden was shortlisted for its sustainability initiatives including plans with Svitzer for the world’s first methanol hybrid fuel cell tug in 2025, as was Portsmouth International Port in the UK for upgrading infrastructure enabling SMS Towage tugs to utilise shore power.

Safety and innovation

The Innovation of the Year Award, sponsored by Damen, was won by Caterpillar Marine for its efficient, optimised Caterpillar 3516E tug engines. Launched commercially in 2023, these main propulsion engines have up to 3 MW of power and sequential turbocharging that optimises torque and response across the engine’s range to unlock 19% greater power.

Other shortlisted nominees included Avikus’s surround-view monitoring system, with a 360° bird’s eye camera system for situational awareness and visibility of tug operations; P&O Maritime Logistics’ DEEP-C decarbonisation project, a sustainability programme to drive energy efficiency, emissions reduction and cost savings; and Markey Machine’s Agile-concept class-III bow-hawser winch, with automatic tension control and real-time line pull monitoring.

Smit Lamnalco won the ITS Safety Award 2024 for upholding rigorous safety protocols to enable more than 602 incident-free LNG transfers between specialised tugs and carriers at Africa’s first deepwater floating LNG production site since 2020.

Also shortlisted were Moran Towing for its comprehensive training and drills, enabling its tugboat crews to successfully rescue two stranded mariners near Baltimore (US) on 25 October 2023; and the UK Maritime & Coastguard Agency for developing and enforcing the widespread Port Marine Safety Code to establish harbour safety protocols for authorities and operators.

The prestigious ITS Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by Sanmar Shipyards, was presented to Ocean Group founder and chairman Gordon Bain, recognising his outstanding significance to the international tug and salvage industry. "It has been an exciting life. We got a lot done. It is an honour to be recognised by the industry," said Mr Bain in receiving the award.

He founded Aqua-Marine in 1972 to provide integrated marine and diving services. In 1987, it became Ocean Construction Inc and acquired Quebec Tugs. It became Ocean Transport Maritime in 1992 and subsequently acquired McAllister Towing’s operations in Montreal and Sorel Tug Boats, and in 1997, the Isle-aux-Coudres shipyard. Further acquisitions and tug fleet renewal occurred during the 2000 decade and in the following 10 years, Ocean Group introduced international operations in the Caribbean and Mexico. In 2020, Ocean Group introduced operations in British Columbia and in 2021 acquired Samson Tugboats.

In 2018, Mr Bain retired from the company’s daily operations, handing over the president and chief executive roles to Jacques Tanguay, while remaining chairman of the board of directors.

Sign up for Riviera’s series of technical and operational webinars and conferences:

• Register to attend by visiting our events page.
• Watch recordings from all of our webinars in the webinar library.