Svitzer adds US$15M tractor tugs to Bahrain fleet 

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.  

They were named by Svitzer at Khalifa Bin Salman Port at a ceremony in mid-October attended by Bahraini minister of transportation and telecommunications Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and representatives from the Ports and Maritime Affairs division, Svitzer, APM Terminals and partners from Bahrain’s maritime sector.  

The minister took the opportunity to inspect the newly arrived vessels after they demonstrated their manoeuvrability and fire-fighting systems.

“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.