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Boluda Towage assists world’s largest hospital ship
A major global tug owner assisted the world’s largest civilian hospital ship and a huge floating caisson construction dock in Spanish ports
Boluda Towage has a global agreement with Mercy Ships Foundation to support its hospital ships in ports where it has tugboats operating.
As part of this agreement, four Boluda tugs were employed to assist the world’s largest civilian hospital ship into a shipyard for maintenance and survey work in Spain in July 2025.
VB Almeria, VB Cadiz, VB Jerez and VB Rota manoeuvred and docked Mercy Ships’ 2021-built, 37,856-gt Global Mercy into Navantia’s SME shipyard in Cadiz, Spain.
This 174-m ship has 7,000 m2 of hospital facilities, 200 hospital beds, six operating rooms and accommodation for up to 950 crew. It provides free surgical care and medical training to people in low-income countries, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa.
“As part of our ongoing collaboration with the Mercy Ships Foundation, Boluda Towage proudly continues to support its humanitarian missions by assisting the hospital vessel wherever our fleet operates worldwide,” said Boluda Towage.
Also in Spain, Boluda’s tugs assisted Kugira, one of the largest floating caisson construction docks in the world in the Port of Valencia after a tow from Cadiz.
It was towed by VB Hispania along the Spanish coast, escorted by VB Boluda Fos, and when it arrived in Valencia, tugboats VB Conqueridor, VB Furia, VB Poder and VB Sonador assisted in its safe and precise positioning at the end of June 2025.
Kugira can produce concrete caissons up to 24,000 tonnes and is 74 m long, 56 m high and 49 m wide.
In Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Boluda’s tugs helped to manoeuvre and dock Van Oord’s newbuild offshore windfarm installation vessel Boreas ready for its naming ceremony.
Boluda tugs VB Hudson, VB Mars and VB Rotterdam safely docked Boreas at the Wilhelmina Quay in the centre of the Port of Rotterdam.
Boreas was built to transport and install foundations and turbines for remote offshore windfarms. This 175-m vessel has a 155-m high crane able to lift more than 3,000 tonnes.
The 28th International Tug & Salvage Convention, Exhibition & Awards will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden, in association with Caterpillar, 19-21 May 2026. Use this link for more details of this industry event and the associated social and networking opportunities.
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