Med Marine has started constructing two icebreaking tugs for Maersk Group’s towage and port support requirements in Scandinavia
The Turkish shipbuilder laid the keels on 16 April for two icebreaking tugs Svitzer ordered to enhance its northern European fleet. This key milestone for Svitzer, a subsidiary of Maersk, will help it to keep ports open and trade flowing in the northern and western Baltic region all year round.
Svitzer newbuilding site manager Kim Caspersen said this was a “milestone during these difficult times” for this project. Med Marine is continuing with this project despite restrictions in Turkey to curb spreading the coronavirus.
“We appreciate Med Marine’s efforts to continue block production for timely delivery of these two tugs for the Scandinavia fleet,” said Mr Caspersen.
He added Svitzer was satisfied by the progress to date on building these new tugs, which will replace legacy tugs once delivered.
“We are looking forward to having the vessels delivered to the highest possible standard and living up to our crew and operational expectations,” Mr Caspersen said.
Once delivered, the tugs will operate across Scandinavia, predominantly serving ports in Denmark and Sweden.
Med Marine is building these tugs to a Robert Allan TundRA 3000 design for operating in extreme winter conditions. The 30-m tugs will have overall power of around 3,900 kW and bollard pulls of more than 60 tonnes.
For this project, Svitzer requested additional deck machinery. Med Marine will install winches capable of operating over the stern and via a trunk running through the deckhouse. They will be located in enclosed areas to achieve optimal performance even in severe cold weather conditions.
Svitzer operates a fleet of more than 430 vessels with operations all over the world.
It is one of the largest users of Robert Allan-designed icebreaking harbour tugs with TundRA design tugs also operating in ice conditions in Far East Russia.
Svitzer secured a 10-year extension this year to provide marine services with a fleet of TundRA design tugs at the Sakhalin Energy LNG terminal in Russia.
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