Newbuilds raise Middle Eastern harbour towage capabilities

Owners are investing in newbuild tugs as terminals in the Middle East are being expanded and port operators prepare for increased trade and larger vessels calling into harbours.

In Bahrain, Svitzer added two 25-m azimuth tractor tugs, built by Sanmar Shipyards in Turkey, to its fleet supporting ships calling at APM Terminals facilities. 

Initially built as Delicay XVI and Delicay XVII, they were renamed Svitzer Manama and Svitzer Awal by the Danish owner. Built for handling and towing container ships in harbours such as Khalifa Bin Salman Port (KBSP), which is operated by APM, they have a FiFi1 off-ship firefighting system for emergency support.  

“With these new additions, we enhance our capability to manage larger vessels and parallel movements at KBSP,” said Svitzer manager for Bahrain, Ahmad Hamdy.

Svitzer Manama and Svitzer Awal were constructed to Robert Allan Ltd’s TRAktor-Z 2500SX design with a moulded beam of 12 m, a least-moulded depth of around 5 m, and an extreme draught of nearly 7 m.

Both tugs are capable of 80 tonnes of bollard pull and have a free-running speed of 12 knots, due to two main diesel high-speed engines driving two Z-drive azimuth thrusters.  

“This marks a significant milestone in our shared journey, underscored by a US$30M investment in new tugs,” said APM Terminals Bahrain managing director Matthew Luckhurst.

“The new tugs strengthen our joint ability to serve customers safely and efficiently while supporting Bahrain’s strategic growth as a gateway for trade and logistics.”

Sanmar said the hullform and appendage configuration were model tested, while computational fluid dynamics optimised the designs to ensure the tugs are highly controllable and manoeuvrable. 

Also in Bahrain, Noatum Maritime Marine Services was selected by Bapco Upstream to provide marine services at an LNG terminal for five years.

The subsidiary of AD Ports Group’s maritime and shipping cluster will support gas carriers berthing at the offshore LNG import terminal near Khalifa Bin Salman Port.

Noatum will provide towage operations using LNG-compliant tugboats; berth and undock LNG carriers and floating storage units; provide 24/7 emergency response and standby support; and ship pilotage.