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Global fleets bolstered by bonanza of tug completions
It has been an important year for tug building, with global shipyards busy with orders from owners renewing and modernising their fleets and constructing tugboats for their own stocks
Ports expansions, new shipping terminals opening and a strong global orderbook for newbuild ships are behind the continued high demand for tugs. Pressure is also rising for tug owners to improve the efficiency of their fleets and reduce emissions in harbours and along coastlines.
All the major global tug owners have ordered and taken delivery of newbuild tugs in 2024, and so have many independent, national and continental operators, keeping shipyard orderbooks at strong levels and a flow of new tugboats entering service.
As of 25 November 2024, International Tug & Salvage had data on 291 tugs delivered in the last 11 months, and the numbers will surely peak at 300, matching or surpassing 2023 deliveries of more than 315. This data is continuously being updated as more information is found on tug deliveries from sources including shipyards, owners, designers, broker reports, newsletters and ITS.
Tug delivery information is far more extensive than information on orders, which is heavily under-reported, and ITS reports 185 tugs ordered in 2024 to 25 November.
What is steadier, is the global shipyard orderbook for tugboats from BRL Shipping Consultants, which was 393 on 25 November, compared with 348 at the start of 2024 and 365 at the start of July. An increase in the worldwide orderbook is another indication of the tug sector’s strength.
Up to 25 November 2024, China delivered the most tugs and 21% of all tugboats entering service in 2024 were built by Chinese shipyards, more than half of these for domestic owners and ports.
Turkey is also a major tugboat building nation with 17% of 2024 deliveries to date coming from the nation. Malaysian shipbuilders constructed 12% of 2024 tug deliveries and 13% came from US shipyards – all for domestic operators.
Around 9% of tugs were built in Vietnam and 6% were constructed in Indonesia. Other major building nations were Brazil, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, South Korea and Spain.
Around 13% of the annual tug deliveries entered the US fleet and another 13% started operations in northern Europe. About 11% went into Indonesia; and 8% into southern Europe. East, south and southeast Asia is still a huge market for tug newbuilds; while 9% of deliveries were sailed to African ports. Latin America is also a source of demand for newbuild tugs.
The main shipbuilders in 2024 included Damen Shipyards with its multiple facilities in Asia and Europe; Cheoy Lee Shipyardsand Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyards in China; Med Marine, Sanmar Shipyards and Uzmar Shipyard in Turkey; plus Master Boat Builders in the US; and Rio Maguari in Brazil.
Owners taking delivery of tugs in 2024 included, in alphabetical order, Adani Group, Boluda Towage, Fairplay Towage, Ingram, Maritime Partners, MSC MedTug and its subsidiaries, Multraship Towage, P&O Maritime Logistics, Pelarayan Mitra Tujuh Samudra, Sinarmas LD Ports & Logistics, STS Seatoshore Group, Svitzer, Transnet National Port Authority of South Africa and Wilson Sons in Brazil.
Details of the tugs completed and delivered in 2024 will be published in depth in the upcoming TugWorld Annual Review 2024.
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