Turkish and east Asian shipyards dominate tugboat deliveries
Turkish and Chinese shipyards supplied a large slice of the tug newbuildings during the first four months of 2019. These deliveries were for owners enhancing their towage capabilities to meet port towage requirements worldwide.
In Turkey, shipyards are producing tugboats for domestic operators and for export markets. One of Sanmar Shipyards’ latest deliveries was a 24-m azimuth stern drive (ASD) tug for Marintug. This vessel was built to ABS-class and a Robert Allan RAmparts 2400SX design as part of Sanmar’s Bogacay series with 60 tonnes of bollard pull,to provide towage services in Tekirdağ Ceyport harbour.
The Turkish Directorate General of Coastal Safety received two tugs with 75 tonnes of bollard pull from Yutek in March and April. These were built at a shipyard in Ereğli to provide emergency response in the Bosphorus Strait.
During Q1 2019, Med Marine sold two of its Robert Allan-designed tugs to Yılport Holdings subsidiary, Gemport. Med XXVI, a 23-m ASD tug, was renamed Uludağ Y and Altıntel M, an 18-m harbour tug, was renamed İznik Y following their sale.
For operators outside Turkey, Med Marine delivered 32-m ASD tug, Caño Cristales to Coltugs for port services in Colombia. The shipyard also completed 30-m, ASD escort tug Vittoriosa for Rimorchiatori Riuniti group subsidiary Tug Malta, in April, at its Ereğli Shipyard.
Uzmar Shipyard supplied two 32-m escort tugs to Svitzer’s services in Australia. Svitzer Redhead, with 80 tonnes of bollard pull, will be deployed in Port Kembla and 85-tonne bollard pull Svitzer Ruby in Fremantle. These RAstar 3200 design tugs have LNG operational protection packages and a rear winch for over the stern towing operations.
Also in Australia, Svitzer intends to mobilise three tug newbuildings to the Port of Geraldton as part of a licence for towage services with Mid West Ports, which was extended in Q1 2019 for another five years.
Svitzer also added two 32-m tugs in Brazil at the start of this year. Svitzer Elias D and Svitzer Joaquim R were deployed in Vittoria after construction in the Detroit shipyard in 2018. This is part of a second phase of growth for Svitzer in Brazil, where it operates 14 other tugs.
Chinese deliveries
In China, Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard continued its impressive run of building tugs for domestic operators. It gained orders during Q1 2019 for a series of harbour and pusher tugs to keep its construction capacity and yard utilisation high. As new orders came in, tugs were launched and delivered.
On 18 April, Zhenjiang Shipyard delivered an ASD tugboat to Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. Bao Gang Tuo 19 has 3,236 kW of propulsion power, more than the 2,660 kW of towing tug Cao Port 28, launched in April for Caofeidian Tugging Services Co.
Zhenjiang Shipyard successfully launched two ASD towing tugs for another Chinese port vessel operator on 8 March. It completed the hulls of Xin Beibuwangang 5 and Xin Beibuwangang 6 for Guangxi Beibuwan Port Tugboat Co. These are scheduled to be delivered, each with total power of 3,824 kW, in Q2 2019.
In February, Zhenjiang Shipyard delivered an ASD tugboat to another Chinese owner. Hu Tuo 8 started operations in the Yangtze River delta for Shanghai Dayu Shipping. It has two engines each generating 1,471 kW of power.
Rival Chinese shipyard, Jiangsu Wuxi Shipyard built ship-assist tug Lima for Peruvian operator Tramarsa in Q1 2019. This 24.4-m tug was built to a Robert Allan RAmparts 2400-W design and ABS class with 77 tonnes of bollard pull and a top speed of 13 knots.
In Japan, Kanagawa Dockyard Co completed LNG-fuelled tug, Ishin, for Mitsui OSK Lines’ Nihon Tug-Boat Co. This 43.6-m tugboat is fuelled at a specialised facility in Sakai Senboku Port and is serving in Osaka Bay. It has Yanmar dual-fuel engines that emit 25% less CO2 and produce lower SOx and NOx emissions in comparison to tugs that run on marine diesel.
Also in Japan, a Kowa shipyard in Kobe delivered harbour tug Dolphin 26 to Adani Vizhinjam Port (AVPPL) in India. This is the first of four tugs ordered to Indian Register of Shipping-class by AVPPL after it secured a long-term concession agreement to provide harbour services in Vizhinjam.
In India, Hindustan Shipyard in Visakhaptnam completed 10-tonne bollard pull tug, Bahadur, for the Indian Navy in March.
In Russia, the Federal Marine and River Transport Agency Rosmorrechflot gained technical acceptance of Bakhtemir. This is the first of four multipurpose salvage tugs being built by Big Port St Petersburg for emergency response, fire-fighting, oil spill response, assisting distressed ships and oilfield standby duties. In January, Fortuna joined Rosmoport’s fleet after delivery by Onezhsky Shipbuilding.
Damen Shipyards has delivered tugs to the Netherlands- and UK-based operators. It sold an azimuth stern drive (ASD) tug to EMAR Offshore Services for its harbour operations and project towage fleet.
E-Two was built to an ASD 2811 design with a modular marine NOx reduction system and the Damen digital platform for performance monitoring. Its first job was to tow new 75-m E-Barge 1 from China to the Middle East, where both will be based in the long term.
Damen also sold an ASD 2411 tug to UK-headquartered SMS Towage in March. Manxman boosted SMS’ Humber fleet to 10 tugs, where the company services Associated British Ports’ facilities and terminals. SMS managing director Gareth Escreet told Tug Technology & Business this investment was required after it took over operations at another key port in the area.
In the Netherlands, Neptune Marine completed multipurpose tug Nora B for Zumaia Offshore. This is a diesel-electric hybrid tug built to a Eurotug 3515 design.
Boluda Corporación Marítima expanded its fleet in the Canary Islands to 19 vessels due to rising demand for its towage and salvage operations. Azimuth tractor tug VB Tamaran joined the fleet in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, in March. This 29.5-m tug has 77 tonnes of bollard pull, oil recovery systems and fire-fighting capabilities.
Tug deliveries Q1 2019 (outside North America) | |||||
Tug name | Owner | Delivery | Type | Builder | Country of operation |
Bingang Towing 8 | Binzhou Port Group Co | January | harbour | Jiangsu Zhenjiang | China |
Fortuna | Rosmoport | January | harbour | Onezhsky Shipbuilding | Russia |
Hinewai | PrimePort Timaru | January | harbour | Cheoy Lee | New Zealand |
Svitzer Elias D | Svitzer | January | harbour | Detroit | Brazil |
Svitzer Joaquim R | Svitzer | January | harbour | Detroit | Brazil |
Hu Tuo 8 | Shanghai Dayu | February | harbour | Jiangsu Zhenjiang | China |
Nibulon-8 | Nibulon | February | inland towage | Nibulon | Ukraine |
Bahadur | Indian Navy | March | naval | Hindustan Shipyard | India |
Caño Cristales | Coltugs | March | harbour | Med Marine | Colombia |
Cao Port 27 | Caofeidian Tugging Services | March | harbour | Jiangsu Zhenjiang | China |
Dolphin 26 | Adani Vizhinjam Port | March | harbour | MS Kowa Japan | India |
E-Two | EMAR Offshore | March | multipurpose | Damen | UAE |
Ishin | Mitsui Nihon Tugboat | March | inland towage | Kanagawa Dockyard | Japan |
Lima | Tramarsa | March | harbour | Jiangsu Wuxi | Peru |
Svitzer Redhead | Svitzer | March | escort | Uzmar | Australia |
Svitzer Ruby | Svitzer | March | escort | Uzmar | Australia |
TDGCS 1 | Turkish DG of Coastal Safety | March | emergency | Yutek | Turkey |
VB Tamaran | Boluda | March | escort | Piriou | Canary Islands |
*Source: Tug Technology & Business/various news sites |
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