Growing demand for towage services in Scandinavian ports has led to an order for two ice-class newbuildings from a Turkish shipyard
Svitzer has contracted Turkish tug builder Med Marine to supply two custom-designed and ice-classed vessels over the next two years.
Med Marine will build these two 30-m ice-breaking tugs at its Eregli Shipyard, in Turkey, using a customised Robert Allan design.
These tugs are scheduled to be delivered in Q4 2020 and Q1 2021, when they will join Svitzer’s 30-strong fleet of towage vessels in Scandinavia and Germany, replacing ice-breaking tugs Svitzer Helios and Svitzer Dynan, two of Svitzer’s oldest vessels with a combined 90 years of service.
These will be azimuth stern drive (ASD) tugs with Finnish-Swedish ice class 1A status, built to Robert Allan TundRA 3000 designs with 60 tonnes of bollard pull.
“We are delighted to have closed this deal with Med Marine to build our two new custom designed TundRA 3000 icebreaking tugs,” said Svitzer cluster managing director for Scandinavia and Germany Mattias Hellström.
“In addition to upgrading our Scandinavian harbour towage fleet, this move also secures our long-term ice-breaking capabilities in the region.”
He said Svitzer Helios and Svitzer Dynan are the last two conventional ice-breaking tugs in Svitzer’s Scandinavian fleet and will be retired from service.
“The new tugs are truly custom designed for the requirements of the Scandinavia region, highlighting Svitzer’s commitment to pushing the boundaries for towage,” said Mr Hellström.
The vessels will also be installed with an ultrasonic antifouling system on its box coolers and hull, eliminating the need for antifouling paints, reducing the vessels’ impact on the local environment. Additionally, the main enginerooms will be future-proofed for impending Marpol Tier III NOx regulations and will be prepared for selective catalytic reduction technology installation.
Svitzer anticipates these newbuild tugs will operate across Scandinavia, predominantly serving ports in Denmark and Sweden. They will also be built to navigate the locks in the Swedish city of Trollhättan, enabling ice breaking on the river and in Lake Vänern.
© 2023 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.