Svitzer’s first new ice-breaking tug was launched at a Turkish shipyard as part of the Maersk subsidiary’s drive to modernise its northern European fleet
The Eregli Shipyard on Turkey’s Black Sea coast launched Svitzer Edda on 11 February. This is the first of two ice-class tugs Svitzer ordered from Med Marine in 2019 to replace two of its elderly vessels.
These azimuth stern drive (ASD) tugs are being built to Robert Allan’s TundRA 3000 design, will match Finnish-Swedish class 1A and have around 60 tonnes of bollard pull, beams of 12.6 m and hull depths of 5.7 m.
Once these ice-breaking tugs are completed, they will replace Svitzer Helios and Svitzer Dynam, said Svitzer Europe managing director Lise Demant in the upcoming issue of International Tug & Salvage. “We expect them to join the fleet in Scandinavia within the next few months,” she said.
Svitzer Edda is hull number ER85 and a MED-A3060-ICE series tug. Its launch at the Eregli Shipyard was supported by Med Marine’s own dock tugs and line handling vessels.
Svitzer Edda’s sister tug will be named Svitzer Embla. Both will be mobilised to Svitzer’s Scandinavian fleet on completion for harbour towage, ship handling and ice management requirements.
“The ice-breaking capabilities are important features given the nature of the Nordic climate,” Ms Demant says. “When the temperature drops, ice-breaking tugs are vital to keeping Scandinavian ports open to keep trade moving.”
These ASD tugs will be outfitted with MAN 12-cylinder 175D-MM main diesel engines and Kongsberg US 255S P30 azimuthing thrusters with fixed-pitch propellers and with ICE 1A rating. They will comply with the latest environmental emissions requirements of IMO Tier III for minimal NOx emissions.
this link to watch a video The launch of Svitzer Edda in Turkey
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