Port investment drives Svitzer's fleet growth ambitions

Pandemic challenges

However, there are operational challenges, not least the prevalence of coronavirus throughout the region, to overcome. Global recession followed the Covid-19 pandemic, impacting world trade and cargo flows. Resulting declines in oil demand led to falling energy prices, with lower oil prices having a particular impact on offshore industries.

“The towage industry has proven to be quite resilient,” says Mr van Dijk. “Even though volumes have been impacted, the impact has been less severe than forecast, which is positive. Towage continues to be a vital part of the global infrastructure, and as such, we remain optimistic about the outlook of the industry.”

Being part of a global group as large as Maersk has helped Svitzer overcome many of the business and operational challenges. “Up until now, we have been able to service our customers uninterrupted during the crisis,” Mr van Dijk explains, “and being part of Maersk has enabled us to collaborate with other brands to find solutions and align efforts to relieve crews across borders.

“However, we do see some clients facing difficulties in meeting their financial obligations, which of course is something that we are paying careful attention to.”

On the operational side, tug operators are challenged by national lockdowns and international travel restrictions, when “the human consequences quickly became very visible” he continues.
“Crew rotations have become extremely difficult due to travel restrictions – and finding solutions to relieving crews on prolonged stays has proved quite complicated as almost all countries have their own local restrictions and protocols,” says Mr van Dijk.

“At the same time, all onshore staff have been forced to work from home – I have colleagues who have been working from home for more than six months now and we do not yet know when some of our local offices will reopen.”

This has detrimental effects on mental health of personnel on vessels and onshore. “This situation has taken its toll on both shore and offshore staff and we are doing everything we can to ensure the health and safety of our colleagues, both physically and mentally,” Mr van Dijk says. “Covid pandemic has forced us to think differently about how we work and collaborate.”

He is grateful for the dedication and commitment of Svitzer Americas’ 835 staff.

Environment matters

Svitzer Americas is looking to tackle the next long-term challenge to operations, limiting greenhouse gas emissions. “We are preparing to reduce our carbon footprint from operations,” says Mr van Dijk. “We are analysing local requirements and planning our contributions to reducing our footprint to meet national commitments which are part of the Paris Agreement.”

Again, being part of the Maersk Group will aid Svitzer in this endeavour. “We are collaborating with Maersk on the technical and economical assessment of means to reduce emissions and we expect to carry out tests on short-listed solutions within two to five years,” says Mr van Dijk.

Part of the effort to reduce emissions is training crew to optimise operations and lessen energy consumption. Svitzer Americas is committed to training local crews, and its operations contributing to growth and prosperity in the countries it operates within.

“That implies investing in training and upskilling local workforces,” says Mr van Dijk.

“We are working on further optimising cross-regional training, but in general we have centrally organised training modules that not only comply with the highest standards but also recognises regional and local requirements.”

Riviera is holding the Smart Tug Operations Virtual Conference on 1 December. Use this link for more details, programme and to register