Svitzer tackles European towage challenges

Svitzer’s key to overcoming market pressures is maintaining high fleet utilisation and flexibility

Svitzer uses its scale and regional connections to surmount the commercial challenges of the northern Europe harbour towage market. As part of this strategy, it invested in the UK fleet, adding Svitzer Meridian in November 2018.

During the naming ceremony held on the river Thames, UK in March 2019, Svitzer Europe managing director Kasper Friis Nilaus told Tug Technology & Business its fleet in London has grown to 10 tugs, making it the largest single port fleet across the group.

Svitzer Meridian was ordered to “keep our fleet updated as we have seen a significant increase in activity and volumes in the Port of London, making it one of our busiest operations in Europe,” said Mr Nilaus. When Svitzer Meridian arrived a similar tug, Svitzer Vale, went from London to operating in Bremerhaven, Germany.

This is an example of Svitzer’s strategy to cascade tugs between ports in Europe. “The main factor is to keep commercial, so we use tugs throughout their lifetime of 20-30 years,” said Mr Nilaus. “We will cascade tugs, so that when we add a new tug, we will move a tug out to another port.”

The London fleet of 10 tugs covers all harbours from Harwich, in Suffolk, to London Bridge and out to Ramsgate, Kent. Svitzer has bases in Sheerness and Gravesend, in Kent, and moorings at London Gateway, Essex, for its tugs. In the UK, Svitzer also operates in:

• Bristol Channel, England
• Belfast, Northern Ireland
• Grangemouth, Scotland
• Glasgow, Scotland
• Liverpool, England
• Milford Haven, Wales
• Southampton, England
• Tees-Tyne, England

Elsewhere in Europe, Svitzer has a Scandinavian branch that includes Sweden, Denmark and Germany, and operates in the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal and Georgia.

In Scandinavia, Svitzer mobilises tugs around multiple harbours as there are not many ports large enough to accommodate a stable fleet. “We operate two to three tugs in Copenhagen, Denmark covering the Sound and tugs in Gothenburg, Sweden, while most of our other assets serve multiple ports without permanent bases,” said Mr Nilaus. “We have a fully flexible fleet that covers a large geographical area because this is what is required in the market.”

Svitzer also has operations in Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands and in Antwerp, Belgium, where it competes with other operators.

Mr Nilaus said the northern Europe market remains highly competitive with low towage rates driven by consolidation in shipping lines. “Towage operators are fighting for work and rates seems to have bottomed out – at least they cannot fall much further,” he said.

“The key to staying profitable is to keep fleet utilisation high.” Part of this is rapid turnaround of tug dockings by conducting as much maintenance as possible outside of shipyards and docking tugs in local shipyards if there is capacity. For example, Svitzer docks tugs operating in Milford Haven, Wales, for inspections and maintenance in the area.

“We need to be cost-effective and fast-acting”

“It is about money and time in the dock,” said Mr Nilaus. “When a tug is in dock, it is not in service making money and we may need to transfer another tug to cover its absence. We need to be cost-effective and fast-acting.”

Mr Nilaus said new tugs with higher bollard pull will be added in the future for fleet renewal and to support ultra-large container ships in European terminals.

“Container ships of up to 22,000 TEU require tugs with power and manoeuvrability because there are big wind forces on these ships,” said Mr Nilaus. “They need to be handled in all conditions, including in bad weather, so high bollard pull is an important requirement of tugs.” Tugs built to handle these container ships need bollard pulls of at least 70 tonnes.

Technology development is also important for Svitzer’s global operations. Which is why Svitzer remains at the forefront of developing technology to assist tug crews such as testing remote tug control technology in Denmark. Mr Nilaus said these trials continue with further developments in sensors and navigation support systems to increase safety, especially in adverse conditions.