An Australian tug owner is preparing to welcome a newbuild azimuth stern drive tugboat built in Vietnam with a ship-towage winch and off-ship fire-fighting system
Engage Marine is boosting its towage and emergency response capabilities in Sydney, Australia, with the addition of a newbuild azimuth stern drive (ASD) tugboat that is on its way from Vietnam.
The Australian vessel owner said its latest newbuild, Engage Maverick, left the Damen Song Cam shipyard in Vietnam on its maiden voyage to New South Wales after successful sea trials.
This tug was built to a Damen design with a winch on the forward deck for escorting, towing and handling ships, another winch on the aft deck, a line-handling deck crane and a FiFi1 off-ship fire-fighting system for emergency response.
Engage Marine said the aft deck was redesigned for offshore and emergency response.
“Engage Maverick represents the next step in enhancing our capability and commitment to safe, efficient and sustainable towage,” said Engage Marine in a social media post.
“It has officially departed, beginning its journey to Sydney. We wish the crew a safe passage and look forward to welcoming it to Australian waters in the coming weeks.”
The Australian owner said its two main diesel engines are connected to a selective catalytic reduction unit to minimise NOx emissions, enabling this tug to comply with IMO Tier III standards and “support lower-emissions operations.”
Engage Maverick was launched and commissioned at the shipyard, and completed sea trials in Ha Long Bay in Q1 2025.
It is one of several tugs joining the Engage Marine fleet in Australia in 2025
A secondhand tugboat in Chile is being outfitted ready to sail across the Pacific Ocean to join Engage’s fleet in Q2 2025.
Asenav shipyard in Valdivia, Chile is refurbishing tugboat Pellaifa, which has served under Ultratug’s management for 21 years. This upgrade work includes modifying the engineroom, installing tanks, piping and an off-ship fire-fighting system, and general maintenance and repair. Once this work is completed, this 25-m tug will be renamed Engage Ghost and will sail to its new life, manoeuvring and docking ships and providing emergency response in Australia.
Engage Marine said this 2004-built tugboat will be assigned to join its operations in Mourilyan, as part of its expansion in northern Queensland.
“As part of its scheduled survey docking, we took the opportunity to enhance its capabilities with a fixed fire-fighting system,” said Engage Marine. “The upgrade was carried out at Asenav Shipyard in Chile, with the support of Ultratug. The final pump fitting and commissioning will be carried out in Australia prior to it entering service. By adding fire-fighting capabilities, Engage Ghost is now equipped to meet a wider range of port requirements, ensuring enhanced operational flexibility.”
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