Turkish, Chinese builders dominate Q3 2025 tug deliveries

Shipbuilders worldwide had a busy Q3 2025, delivering around 74 tugboats to owners in global markets for harbour towage in the period. Builders in Turkey and China were especially busy with tugboat completions and deliveries, demonstrating the dominant positions the two nations hold on vessel production.

Owners with operations in Europe, Latin America and Australia have turned to the technical engineering and building capabilities of Turkish shipyards, which often use designs from Canadian naval architects at Robert Allan Ltd.

Svitzer was one of the biggest fleet investors in terms of new deliveries, welcoming four newbuilds from Turkish shipyards between July and September.  

Med Marine built two 26-m tractor tugs for the Denmark-based subsidiary of AP Moller Holding. Isla Popa and Isla Uva sailed to Panama after their construction at the Eregli Shipyard on the north Turkish coast to a Robert Allan TRAktor 2600-Z design.

These MED-T2600 series tugs have 65 tonnes of bollard pull, a beam of 13 m, a draught of 6 m, a top speed of 12 knots, a FiFi1 off-ship fire-fighting system and accommodation for six crew. They were built to handle, tow and dock tankers, bulk carriers and container ships at ports in Panama. With newbuild numbers ER173 and ER174, these tugboats were launched and delivered within the planned schedule. 

Sanmar built Svitzer’s first electric-powered tugboat, Svitzer Ingrid, using Robert Allan’s ElectRA 2500SX design, with Corvus Energy’s battery modules installed. This 25-m tugboat operates in the Sound between Denmark and Sweden. It can complete 90% of its operational tasks using electric power sourced from batteries charged using the renewable energy supply at the Port of Helsingborg, Sweden.

Svitzer added a second TRAnsverse-design tugboat in the Port of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, in Q3 2025. Svitzer Nobbys arrived on 16 August to join sister tug Svitzer Barrington, after a voyage that crossed two oceans and passed through the Panama Canal. Both were built by Uzmar Shipyard in Turkey to a TRAnsverse 3200 design, developed by Svitzer and Robert Allan, with 80 tonnes of bollard pull. Uzmar is building another TRAnsverse tugboat for Svitzer with dual-fuel methanol-diesel engines and around 6 MWh of battery capacity. 

Med Marine delivered the first harbour tugs to Tunisia’s Office for Merchant Marine and Ports in Q3 2025 as it is building six of these tugs to Robert Allan’s RAmparts 2800 design with a bollard pull of 60 tonnes.

Sanmar also celebrated with SAAM Towage in Q3 2025, after receiving and naming harbour tugboat SAAM Charran in Callao, Peru, marking the growth of the Chile-headquartered owner in the nation.

“The Peruvian market is strategic for us. We are committed to growing and investing to provide the best coverage for our customers in the Pacific,” says SAAM Towage managing director Hernán Gómez.

SAAM Charran was built as a Bogacay-class vessel to Robert Allan’s RAmparts 2400SX-MKII design with 80 tonnes of bollard pull and FiFi1 fire-fighting system to support vessels manoeuvring, berthing and undocking at terminals.

“The arrival of this new tug reinforces our services by incorporating technology and high safety standards in critical berthing and unberthing operations,” says SAAM Towage Chile-Peru regional manager Cristián Cifuentes. This 24-m tug has a beam of 12 m, a maximum speed of 13 knots, and twin four-stroke, high-speed, Caterpillar-manufactured engines that develop 2,350-kW at 1,800 rpm.