Svitzer invests in electric, methanol and TRAnsverse tugs 

These would be for delivery in 2027 and operations where there is charging infrastructure. As Svitzer gains more experience with these battery hybrid-propulsion tugs, it will become more confident to roll this out worldwide. “A good portion of our newbuildings for fleet renewal will be battery tugs,” said Mr Karlsen. “With our size and global operations, we are confident we would find places for these to operate and infrastructure for charging them.” 

Some of the biggest challenges in investing in battery powered tugs involve finding the charging infrastructure and clients willing to partner in the electric revolution. 

“There are still pain points, and even when charging should be available, it is challenging to get green electricity to the quayside and the charger,” said Mr Karlsen. “This is slowly being solved. We ordered Svitzer Ingrid and got this delivered to encourage port partners to find solutions for charging.” This resulted in Port of Helsingborg providing a charging station, enabling Svitzer Ingrid to operate from the harbour into the Sound.

“We expect more charging infrastructure to be developed in the future”

Until this infrastructure is in place, tugboats will be diesel fuelled, with exhaust aftertreatment for reducing NOx emissions and compliance with IMO Tier III standards. These tugs will have engines ready for biofuels for when prices decrease to more viable levels for these drop-in fuels. 

Use of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) units for Tier III compliance enables Svitzer to reduce local pollution in port and urban areas in which it operates. There is a little more operating expenditure in terms of replacing urea and maintenance, but this is not an issue for the Danish owner.  

“We have obligations to lower local emissions. We look at where we operate and will be compliant where there are strict Tier III requirements,” said Mr Karlsen. With a fleet of around 450 vessels, Svitzer can shuffle them around to meet environmental and operational requirements and renew where needed.  

“When yards are building their own vessels for stock, we specify them to be Tier III ready so they can be ready to retrofit,” he added. 

New designs 

Svitzer’s new tugs will also be based on its TRAnsverse design, which was developed in co-operation with Canadian naval architects Robert Allan Ltd. 

The first of these, Sanmar-built Svitzer Taurus, has operated in Ijmuiden, the Netherlands for almost one year with around 15% more fuel efficiency than conventional azimuth stern drive tugs. Two more, Svitzer Barrington and Svitzer Nobbys, started operating in the Port of Newcastle, Australia in August 2025 to enhance safety and lower fuel consumption from escorting and manoeuvring post-Capesize bulk carriers in the harbour. These were built by Uzmar Shipyard in Turkey to a TRAnsverse 3200 design with a beam of 13.7 m, a draught of 6.1 m, a bollard pull of 80 tonnes and a top speed of 14.4 knots, coming from two Everllence-manufactured four-stroke, diesel engines driving two azimuth thrusters.  

“They have exceeded expectations and are extremely capable,” said Mr Karlsen. “We can see they work effectively. We have had all good feedback from pilots and stakeholders. They are a real success.” Svitzer trained masters on simulators and did exercises with marine pilots before these two TRAnsverse tugs arrived. “We are focused on TRAnsverse being a differentiator. We believe in the design for higher performance and lower fuel consumption,” he said. 

“A next step is to work with port owners to get microgrid solutions for renewable energy plants, storage and charging”

Future TRAnsverse tugs are likely to have battery-hybrid propulsion ready for charging in ports and using biofuels or methanol, as long as Svitzer can find partners to collaborate with. 

“Our challenge is to find partners and customers where we can work together to develop commercial offerings to make energy transition viable for all parties,” said Mr Karlsen. “It is easy to talk about energy transition, but difficult to implement, especially when these parties need to take their wallets out.” 

He said battery technology is becoming cheaper as electric tugs are built at scale and new chemistries are implemented, but more is needed. “We are not there yet, but when there is comparable total cost of ownership between electric and diesel, it becomes a no-brainer.” 

There needs to be close co-operation between port authorities, terminal owners, shipowners and the harbour ecosystem to find solutions and enable electrification of vessels from renewable sources. 

“A next step is to work with port owners to get microgrid solutions for renewable energy plants, storage and charging, and to have off-take partners and to sell green energy back to the main grid. These can make it financially viable,” said Mr Karlsen. 

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