Svitzer's eco-friendly growth drive in Europe

Svitzer has expanded its fleet and renewed its sustainability strategy to become a leading tug owner in northern Europe with plans for investments in green technologies. 

The Copenhagen, Denmark-headquartered group owns 140 vessels in 77 harbours and eight terminals in Europe, including in the UK, Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, with four tugs in Greece and three in Georgia. Overall, the European business contributed around 35% of Svitzer group’s revenue in 2024.

Svitzer, founded in 1833, became an independent, Copenhagen-listed company after its demerger from the AP Moller-Maersk group in April 2024, but is expected to be incorporated again into the shipping group in Q2 2025. In the past year, it has introduced the first of its efficient multipurpose TRAnsverse tugs into operation in the Port of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. In 2024, Svitzer started operations in Alexandroupolis, Greece, with four newbuild tugs supporting LNG imports via a floating storage and regasification unit, and operated tugs Fawley oil terminal in the UK for a full year.

“Europe is a core market for Svitzer. Even though the European market is mature, we still see growth opportunities, both entering new countries and expanding business with current customers,” says Svitzer managing director for Europe, Lise Demant.

“With our high-quality fleet and service delivery, Svitzer can add value for customers and stakeholders in areas facing port congestion, larger vessels and more extreme weather, she explains to International Tug & Salvage (ITS). 

We expect to continue to develop our business positively and play a key role in the European marine service industry, delivering high-quality service to our customers.

Ship size is seen as a rising challenge in the region’s towage sector as ports have not expanded or been relocated to more open coastal areas at the same rate. 

“In many cases, larger vessels are going into ports that were not originally planned for vessels of those sizes,” says Ms Demant.

A challenging operation in a tight harbour was witnessed by ITS in June 2024, when four Svitzer tugs manoeuvred an ultra-large container ship into a terminal in Southampton, UK, through a channel with little room or water depth to work within.

Other challenges come from the tightening environmental regulations impacting maritime and harbour operations in Europe, driven by the European Union, IMO and local emissions standards. All newbuild tugs in northern Europe come with selective catalytic reduction units to minimise NOx from engine exhaust and comply with IMO Tier III emissions standards.

“In Europe, in particular, we see a growing demand for green towage solutions and opportunities to pilot new technologies, including green fuels, new tug designs, and electrification,” says Ms Demant. 

Towage highlights

A recent highlight for Ms Demant was deploying Svitzer’s first TRAnsverse tug, Svitzer Taurus, in IJmuiden, Amsterdam. “This new tug design is revolutionary and can perform towage jobs faster and safer than comparable azimuth stern drive tugs. At the same time, it is more than 15% more fuel efficient,” she explains. “As a default, our future tugs will be based on the TRAnsverse tug design.”

Svitzer has been a leader in deploying environmentally sustainable towage by providing its tugboats powered by biofuels for EcoTow contracts in the UK and now EcoBAF, where towage is subject to the eco-friendly bunker adjustment factor, in continental Europe.

“Svitzer is fully committed to decarbonising the marine service industry, and we plan to be net zero by 2040,” says Ms Demant. “This requires we act now. For example, in collaboration with the Port of Amsterdam, Svitzer introduced an EcoBAF for a biodiesel product, which has reduced emissions locally and is still financially viable for all parties.

The Port of Esbjerg, Denmark, has also actively supported the introduction of EcoBAF to support the transition of tugs to run using hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) in the port. This is part of the port’s ambition to be carbon neutral by 2030 and strengthens its collaboration with key maritime partners. In Esbjerg, all Svitzer tugs have been operating on HVO since 1 February 2025.

Svitzer plans to operate more European tugs on sustainable biofuels derived from HVO and fatty acid methyl ester.