Business Sectors
Events
Floating energy: successfully unlocking stranded gas using FLNGs and FSRUs
24 Feb 2026
GMT - ONLINEContents
High power, decarbonisation impact tug design
Next-generation tugs with a high bollard pull, batteries and dual-fuel engines are set to be delivered in 2026
Reducing emissions and underwater noise, while improving safety, security, power, and digitalisation, is impacting tug design, with industry firsts expected to be delivered by shipyards in 2026.
While hundreds of tugboats are built each year with conventional propulsion and power, few are ready to use alternative fuels or energy storage systems.
However, naval architects are designing tugs that can use multiple fuels or are will have battery modules installed.
Robert Allan Ltd has developed several large tugs with a high bollard pull for specialised operations. RAstar escort tugs offer a bollard pull of up to 135 tonnes to safeguard large ships through constrained and environmentally sensitive areas, and variants within its RAsalvor and RAmpage series are used for salvage, offshore and emergency towage requirements.
The Canadian naval architect provided its RAmpage 6000-DE design for offshore tugs being built by Uzmar for Smit Lamnalco to support ExxonMobil’s offshore operations in Guyana, where tankers are loaded with crude oil from floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels.
Another series of RAstar 3200-W design tugs were built by Uzmar in 2024 and 2025 for Kotug International’s African fleet, with SD Djoudj, SD Chatboul, SD Rosso and SD Waalo supporting BP’s Greater Tortue Ahmeyim gas project offshore Mauritania and Senegal, and SD Wonder operating on Eni’s LNG export hub offshore Pointe Noire, Congo.
These tugs have around 80 tonnes of bollard pull coming from two Caterpillar main diesel four-stroke, high-speed engines turning two azimuth thrusters, and all feature FiFi1 off-ship fire-fighting systems and escort-class winches.
“In line with an ongoing push towards reducing our environmental impact, we are seeing continued interest in green fuels, with a particular uptake in the adoption of battery-electric tugs in harbour towage,” said Robert Allan president and chief executive, Mike Fitzpatrick.
“We are seeing continued interest in green fuels, with a particular uptake in the adoption of battery-electric tugs”
In 2025, Sanmar Shipyards delivered six fully electric tugs with large onboard energy storage systems for clients in Europe and South America, all to Robert Allan’s ElectRA designs, and other Turkish shipyards developed versions of their own.
Other battery-electric tugs will be introduced in 2026 and 2027 using Robert Allan’s designs, as owners and ports reap the benefits from zero-emissions towage.
“Battery-electric tugs have been designed for new regions including India and China, and new Rotortugs and TRAnsverse designs have been developed, including hybrid and battery-electric configurations,” said Mr Fitzpatrick.
In 2026, Sanmar will complete ElectRA 2500-SX tugs for Botas, while other ElectRA design tugs will be completed for its own fleet and for other clients. More tugs are expected to be built with dual-fuel engines using new fuels in the next two years.
“Other alternate fuels show promise, but without a clear direction from either the equipment suppliers or the operators, there remains no preferred path,” said Mr Fitzpatrick.
“For tugs requiring more endurance, hybrid mechanical-electrical systems are becoming more sophisticated, and are thus able to optimise fuel consumption while also reducing maintenance costs.”
A highlight in 2025 was the delivery of LNG Sentinel I and LNG Sentinel II, ITS Tugs of the Year, by Cheoy Lee Shipyards to Boluda Towage subsidiary Hongkong Towing and Salvage.
These 42-m tugs were designed to service and safeguard the world’s largest floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) and the Hong Kong Offshore LNG terminal, by providing year-round patrol and traffic surveillance, carrying out oil spill control and fire-fighting and assisting LNG carriers berthing at the terminal.
Other notable deliveries included two TRAnsverse 3200 tugs for Svitzer Australia, two TundRA 2600 compact ice-breaking tugs for Alfons Håkans in Finland, and a 41-m RAmpage 4100-design offshore tug, BB Power, built with hybrid propulsion by Uzmar for Bukser og Berging in Norway.
Mr Fitzpatrick said the most complex vessel of the year was 39-m escort tractor tug, Silivri, built by Uzmar to a TRAktor V3900-DF design for Botas in Turkey with LNG dual-fuel engines and Voith Schneider propulsion.
In 2025, almost 100 Robert Allan-designed tugs were delivered internationally. These tugs were built by 19 shipyards in nine countries, with 70 being built by just four shipyards – Sanmar, Uzmar, Med Marine and Cheoy Lee. They ranged in length from 16 m to 42 m and have a combined bollard pull of more than 6,000 tonnes.
Newbuild expectations
In 2026, high bollard pull tugs will continue to be built to Robert Allan designs for ship escort, emergency response and offshore applications, with three dual-fuel tugs ordered ready to run on methanol.
“2026 is shaping up to be another big year for deliveries of large, innovative, high bollard pull and highly specialised tugs entering service,” said Mr Fitzpatrick. “This includes the world’s first methanol dual-fuel newbuild tugs.”
Sanmar is completing two 44-m tanker escort tugs to Robert Allan’s RAsalvor 4400-DFM design for Kotug Canada, while Uzmar is building a TRAnsverse 3500-DFM design tug for Svitzer.
“This will bring a new generation of offshore rescue towing protection to Australia"
“Reef Responder, a 120-tonne bollard pull RAsalvor 6500, is designed for Smit Lamnalco and will be operated by Boluda Australasia,” said Mr Fitzpatrick.
“This will bring a new generation of offshore rescue towing protection to Australia with its long-term contract for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.”
In addition, the first of a series of TRAktor 3200-V Voith tractor tugs will be delivered to Boluda, and several TRAnsverse 2900-design tugs will be built by Cheoy Lee for Svitzer. By the end of 2026, Med Marine will have completed a RAstar 4200-design escort and salvage tug with 135 tonnes of bollard pull, which is expected to be delivered to Turkey’s Directorate General of Coastal Safety.
The Americas is also a strong market for Robert Allan’s designs. “Within the US market, many compact high bollard pull RApport series tugs will be delivered, including the first cases of high-volume speculation building in the Jones Act escort tug market,” said Mr Fitzpatrick. Master Boat Builders is building eight tugboats with 90 tonnes of bollard pull for Maritime Partners.
In South America, shipyards are using Robert Allan designs to build inland waterways vessels. The first convoy of specialised iron ore barges was delivered in 2025 to LNG Mining. The first of the large series of RApide-design pusher tugs for LHG Logistics is scheduled for delivery by Rio Maguari Shipyard in Brazil in 2026.
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.
Related to this Story
Events
Maritime Regulations Webinar Week
16 Dec 2025GMT - ONLINEFloating energy: successfully unlocking stranded gas using FLNGs and FSRUs
24 Feb 2026GMT - ONLINE
© 2024 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.
