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Top tug owners discuss digitalisation, decarbonisation, fleet renewal
A group of influential tug owners provided insights into fleet renewals, AI deployment and increasing efficiency of port operations
Tug owners are seeking cost-effective solutions for cutting emissions from port and towage operations, while raising investment for fleet renewals and business expansion.
Owners are also starting to use artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics for vessel and fleet optimisation and forming alliances to gain commercial opportunities at a time when market consolidation appears to have stalled.
Top executives from some of the largest tug owners and operators across the world provided their insights at Riviera’s 28th ITS Convention in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Many owners present at the convention agreed that implementing data analysis across their fleets, port operations and vessels would generate operational and planning benefits and that emissions from towage operations need to be reduced.
There was also general agreement that fleets would need renewal in the long-term, with more efficient tugs with higher bollard pulls required to handle larger ships in congested waters, but with less environmental impact than current vessels.
Svitzer chief operating officer, Kasper Karlsen, said owners needed assets that would continue operating for 25 to 30 years in different harbours and with reduced emissions, which would be challenging to find without support from ports.
For owners to invest in green tugs, ports need to be prepared to supply alternative fuels and low-cost electricity at quaysides where battery-powered tugs can berth.
“Our ambition is to decarbonise, but we are always thinking about the whole asset life. We do not want to replace propulsion systems, so we need safe bets,” Mr Karlsen said.
“We see electrification as a great solution and we are close to a commercial battery solution. We are building electric tugs on speculation,” he said.
He said electric tugs have higher capital expenditure than diesel-driven tugboats, but are less costly to operate, “making it commercially viable on a total cost of ownership basis compared with conventional fuelled tugs.”
Due to variations in operations and the ports Svitzer’s vessels operate in, its tugboats will still need combustion engines. “Flexibility is key,” he said. “There is no one-size-fits-all.” This is especially true for methods of cutting emissions on the types of tugboats required for coastal or deepsea towage.
Some of the engines on Svitzer’s tugs will be ready for methanol, and many are already using hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) if ports can supply these fuels.
“For future fuels, a regulatory push will be needed,” said Mr Karlsen. “For many of our operations, we cannot pass on fuel costs.” But owners with fuel choices can benefit from price fluctuations. “Diesel prices are volatile and high prices reduce the HVO premium over diesel, so HVO makes more sense,” he added.
Svitzer managing director for Europe and chairman of the European Tugowners Association, Arjen van Dijk, said fleet investments need to involve designs of tugboats that optimise ship manoeuvring around ports without increasing fuel consumption and emissions.
“We need to continue to innovate, adapt and collaborate with stakeholders to optimise port ecosystems,” said Mr van Dijk.
But, climate change is resulting in increasing downtime in terminals and delays in operations due to adverse weather and sea conditions.
“So, we bring tug designs that extend the operating window and thus [offer] gains for terminal operators,” said Mr van Dijk.
He also thought owners would benefit from investing in AI to improve operations and manage operating expenditure more effectively.
“AI can be a gamechanger. We need to accelerate technology development and deployment,” he said.
Noatum Maritime Marine Services commercial and business development director, Ferlin Brown, said data should be harnessed and analysed using AI to improve port operations and towage.
Information on ship position, berth capacity, tug and pilot availability and terminal operations could be used to enable just-in-time port operations and synchronise tugboat deployments to improve efficiency.
“For future fuels, a regulatory push will be needed”
“We need to know how efficient our fleets can be by applying AI potential to port operations,” said Mr Brown. This includes applying AI to synchronise pilotage, towage and terminal operations and berths. “We need to talk together in real time to become more efficient,” he said. “Technology and data can be harnessed and improve port operations and towage.”
Kotug International’s Maritime Excellence Centre director, Patrick Everts, said digitalisation should support optimisation of port operations.
“For safe and efficient operations, we need competent and capable tug masters and pilots and the right assets,” he said. “We need to use software to have the right tug with the right pilot in the right location for ship assistance.”
He also thinks pilots need to know what tugs are capable of and be able to work with tug masters in a ship-handling team. Pilot-tug training helps operators identify lessons and use these in their operations to support investment in new harbour tugs.
Canadian challenges
Seaspan Marine Transportation president, Captain Jordan Pechie, explained how its fleet of electric-powered harbour tugs provide zero-emissions handling of LNG carriers at a busy export terminal in British Columbia.
Three battery-electric tugs berth and undock LNG carriers every day at the LNG terminal while two LNG dual-fuel deepsea tugs escort these gas tankers from the terminal to the Pacific Ocean.
“Dual-fuel and electric tugs are great in specific cases if our client is behind us,” said Capt Pechie. “But people are trying to reach zero emissions or net zero at different paces, making it difficult for fleet renewal.”
Another of the sector’s challenges is finding powerful terminal tugs with low emissions and more than 100-tonnes of bollard pull for the next set of LNG export hubs.
“Energy majors are realising that everything hinges on an escort tug. If one goes down for a refit or due to a failure, then that impacts operations at the terminal,” said Capt Pechie.
“With new terminals coming online, getting escort tugs will be integral, but there is a struggle to find 100-tonne bollard pull tugs with high steering forces.”
Harbor Star Shipping Services president and chief executive, Geronimo Bella, said it is important to extend the life of existing assets before ordering newbuilds because of the rising capital expenditure of fleet renewal.
“We are looking at fleet renewal, but because newbuildings are so expensive, we do as much as possible to improve efficiency,” he said. “In the Philippines, we need to adapt our fleet to different requirements of ports, terminals and shipowners.”
South American owners
SAAM Towage chief executive, Hernan Gomez Cisternas, said tug owners need to “sell their investment thesis to shareholders and investors,” before taking decisions on fleet renewal and contracts.
He said there needed to be a clear understanding on the exposure of these investments to future requirements and potential fluctuations in exports and imports, cargo volumes and ship calls at ports, term contracts, spot market rates and profit margins.
“Having long-term terminal and port arrangements and having some spot market returns means if an asset does not get the expected returns, then it can be moved around to generate profits,” said Mr Cisternas.
“When balancing opportunities and investments, we need to understand the business case behind the asset. The industry has become more sophisticated over time, especially in risk management, which has led companies to push their own limits for more sustainable operations.”
CPT Towage managing director, Miguel de Orbegoso, said medium-sized owners were realising the benefits of working within alliances to provide towage services in international markets.
“We build alliances with like-minded partners, so we can offer choice and different vessels to our customers on a global basis,” said Mr de Orbegoso.
“It is important that mid-sized players remain operating. Alliances are important to do this,” he said.
Riviera will host TUGTECHNOLOGY ‘27 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 19-20 May 2027. Use this link for more information and to register.
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