Business Sectors
Business Sectors
Events
Contents
Register to read more articles.
Svitzer bets on TRAnsverse tugs to reduce its environmental impact in ports
Svitzer will soon begin operating its second and third TRAnsverse tugs in Australia after the success with the first supporting ships docking in the Netherlands
Two tugs built to a new design for efficient ship escort and handling are sailing to Australia to begin operations at one of the world’s busiest bulk cargo export ports.
Svitzer Australia is preparing for their arrival by training crews on simulators ready for the arrival of Svitzer Barrington and Svitzer Nobbys in Newcastle.
These were built by Uzmar Shipyard in Turkey to a TRAnsverse 3200 design and are transiting on their own keel to eastern Australia via the Panama Canal, to avoid the Red Sea, in Q2 2025.
Svitzer head of innovation Thomas Bangslund said the owner installed Kongsberg Maritime simulators in a new centre in Newcastle to train crew on these two tugs, as they are different to azimuth stern drive and other tractor tugs.
This follows around six months of successful shiphandling operations by the world’s first TRAnsverse tug, Svitzer Taurus, in the port of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Mr Bangslund said Cheoy Lee Shipyards is building four 29-m TRAnsverse tugs for operations in southeast Asia and Uzmar is constructing what will become the world’s first methanol-battery tugboat for operations in Sweden.
He presented these designs and the operational benefits of the first TRAnsverse tugs at Riviera’s TUGTECHNOLOGY ’25 Conference in Antwerp, Belgium, on 20 May.
Svitzer worked with Robert Allan Ltd to design different types of TRAnsverse tugs, using extensive model simulations and tank testing, and is using real-time operational data from the first tugs to optimise the design and verify training simulation programs.
Robert Allan director of project development Jim Hyslop said another design, TRAnsverse 2600 "is on the drawing board and we hope it will be in service in a couple of years.”
Uzmar Shipyard project manager, Furkan Yildiz, said construction of the TRAnsverse 3500 E design tugboat for Svitzer is under way and it should be completed in 2026.
This 35-m, ABS-class tug will have a beam of 15 m, two methanol dual-fuel engines and around 6 MWh of battery capacity split into two rooms with 3 MWh each, all combined to generate 85 tonnes of bollard pull.
“The dual-fuel engines enable longer operations with lower GHG emissions while the batteries provide closer to zero emissions,” said Mr Yildiz. "This is operational flexibility and fuel efficiency in one vessel. System integration is important and hybrid propulsion has many benefits.”
Mr Yildiz expects more methanol-battery tugboats to be ordered and brought into service.
“We are crafting a blueprint for the future of green sustainable towage, “ he said, adding the TRAnsverse 3500 E is “a crucial milestone to lowering GHG emissions” and lowering the towage industry’s carbon footprint.
“We are setting an industry benchmark. With 85 tonnes of bollard pull, it will be a powerful tug capable of taking on projects while meeting decarbonisation targets. This vessel will change owners’ mindsets as a symbol of what is possible.”
The 28th International Tug & Salvage Convention, Exhibition & Awards will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden, 19-21 May 2026. Use this link for more details of this industry event and the associated social and networking opportunities
Sign up for Riviera’s series of technical and operational webinars and conferences:
- Register to attend by visiting our events page.
- Watch recordings from all of our webinars in the webinar library.
Related to this Story
Events
Maritime Regulations Webinar Week
16 Dec 2025
GMT - ONLINE
Floating energy: successfully unlocking stranded gas using FLNGs and FSRUs
24 Feb 2026GMT - ONLINE
© 2026 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.
