Italy's Rimorchiatori Laziali takes delivery of newbuild escort tug

Pellegron, called Kocacay IX while it was under construction, has been delivered by Turkish yard Sanmar.

The 32-m heavy-duty tug is built for escort, ship-handling and towage work for Rimorchiatori Laziali as part of the operator’s ongoing expansion outside the Mediterranean.

The company revealed the vessel design is based on an exclusive-to-Sanmar RAstar 3200SX design from Canadian naval architects Robert Allan Ltd. Pellegron measures 13 m in breadth, with a 5 m moulded depth, has a maximum draft of 6 m and can accommodate a crew of up to 10 people. The twin Z-drive, diesel-powered tugboat can achieve up to 80 tonnes of bollard pull and has a free-running speed ahead of 13 knots. 

Pellegron is classed by Italian classification society RINA, and launched towards the end of May. The Fi-Fi 1 fire-fighting capability and its tank capacities include 165 m³ of fuel oil and 20 m³ of fresh water. A powerful escort winch at the bow allows it to perform escort and ship handling operations, and it has a towing winch, towing pins and rounded transom at the stern for towing.

Sanmar said, “Extensive model and full-scale testing have shown its hull design significantly enhances escort towing and seakeeping performance.”

The yard’s commercial director, Rüçhan Çıvgın, said the Kocaçay-class tugs have been specifically designed to allow customisation requests from customers to be easily accommodated. “We work closely with clients throughout the design, construction and trialling stages to ensure these high-power tugs meet specific operational needs.”

Pellegron, which will operate in the Middle East Gulf, is the sister tug to Blasco, which was delivered to the owner in 2023.

Rimorchiatori Laziali is part of the Cafimar group and holds the towing concession for the port of Civitavecchia, outside Rome, where it also supplies bunker ships and barges. The company is also active in deepsea and coastal towage, transporting materials and industrial products for maritime construction work.