Tanker and bulk carrier owner Formosa Plastics has ordered eight new harbour tugboats from a shipyard in southeast Asia to support its exports in the region.
The Taiwan-based group has ordered tugs of three different sizes from Graha Trisaka, a subsidiary of PaxOcean Group, which operates an Indonesian shipyard, according to BRL Shipping Consultants.
These newbuild tugs are expected to be operated by Formosa Plastics subsidiary Mailiao Harbor Administration Corp. It requires four harbour tugs with an overall length of around 25 m for delivery during Q3 and Q4 of 2019. Graha Trisaka will also build three larger tugs of around 33.5 m for escort duties and harbour towage. These are scheduled to be built between May and September in 2020.
Formosa Plastics has also ordered a tug with an overall length of 29.2 m for delivery in December 2019. The tugs will be powered by twin Niigata engine units. They are expected to be based on Robert Allan design TRAktor 3100-V with Voith propulsion and designed for tanker escort, offshore terminal and harbour duties.
Mailiao Harbor Administration Corp already operates a fleet of nine tugs. Formosa Plastics’ main business area is producing intermediate raw materials for plastics, such as PVC resins, vinyl chloride monomer, caustic soda, hydrochloric acid and various organic polymers for worldwide export from Taiwan.
Indonesia has been busy in tug construction as local port operators modernise their fleets. For example, Pelabuhan Indonesia III had 15 tugs ordered for its port support services for delivery this year.
According to BRL Shipping Consultants, 97 tugboats have been ordered so far this year, boosting the current orderbook to 263 tugs.
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