Fleet renewals, emissions reductions drive newbuild contracts

Modernising workboat and tugboat fleets accelerated in Q3 2025, as vessels were ordered with technology to reduce emissions in harbours worldwide.  

Owners are reacting to market demands for higher power tugboats to handle large container ships, bulk carriers, tankers, naval ships and LNG carriers in ports that have opened more terminals and quayside space.

More tugboats have been ordered with high-efficiency hulls, stronger winches, more engine power and exhaust aftertreatment systems or energy storage systems.  

According to data collated by International Tug & Salvage (ITS), shipyards worldwide received orders for 62 newbuild tugs in Q3 2025, up from the 53 reported in Q2 2025 and 30 in Q3 2024.

These orders boosted the global orderbook for tugs to 403 at the end of September 2025, up from 380 at the start of this year, according to data from BRL Shipping Consultants. 

Orderbook and shipyard contract data can vary from quarter to quarter and is swayed by large one-off orders. This was the case in Q3 2025 when Serco contracted Damen Shipyards to build a fleet of 24 vessels, including tugs and pilot boats, to support the UK Royal Navy in three UK ports. As part of this contract, Damen will construct azimuth stern drive (ASD) and reverse stern drive (RSD) tugs from its shipyard in Vietnam and China for deliveries going into 2027.

Another sizeable contract came from Curtin Maritime for a fleet of hybrid-electric tugboats to assist ships in major ports in California, USA, in a deal valued at US$160M. Up to eight newbuild tugs will be built, designed by Arc Group, with energy storage systems and generators driving azimuth thrusters at a cost of around US$20M each vessel. They will be assembled at Snow & Co’s Seattle shipyard and deployed in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, with the first scheduled to enter service in 2027.

In Asia, China continues to dominate tug newbuilding orders with Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard a major builder for domestic owners and increasingly for export. In Q3 2025, the Jiangsu province shipyard cut steel on the first of four tugs it is contracted to build for Indonesian owner Sinarmas LDA Maritime.  

In the past three months, it has also cut steel on tugs for Tianjin Port, Nantong Lusi Port Tugboat Co, National Hazardous Chemicals Emergency Rescue Gulei and Shanghai Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co.

Offshore operations are becoming a growing requirement for tugboats built for port operations. Zhenjiang Shipyard has started building six tugboats to handle ships and anchors for port and offshore applications for Britoil Offshore Services with deliveries in 2026 and 2027.

In Q3 2025, Smit Lamnalco contracted Turkey’s Uzmar Shipyard to build offshore tugs to support a new multi-year contract it received from ExxonMobil Guyana.  

And in October, Chomex Marino signed a contract with Albwardy Damen Shipyard in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, for two offshore support tugs to support Woodside Energy’s deepwater operations in Mexico.

India is becoming an important country for tugboat construction with Cochin Shipyard, Mandovi Drydocks and Shoft Shipyard picking up contracts from domestic owners.

Previous orders, and builders’ strategies to construct for their own stock and fleets, have bolstered tugboat deliveries this year. Data accumulated by ITS indicates there were 74 tugs delivered by shipyards worldwide in Q3 2025. Of these around 19% were built in China and 16% in Turkey, plus 12% in Malaysia and another 12% in Vietnam.  

These additions mean there have been over 250 tugs delivered in the first nine months of 2025. At this rate, it is likely that tugboat deliveries in 2025 will match that of 2024, which ITS reported at 348.