Svitzer bolsters Brazilian fleet with new tug addition

Svitzer Atanásio has started operating in the Port of Santos as the third azimuth stern drive (ASD) tug the shipyard in Belém do Pará has built for the AP Moller-Maersk subsidiary.

This was constructed to a Robert Allan Ltd RAmparts 2300-ERM design as a sister vessel to Svitzer Jorge D, which joined the fleet in May and February-delivered Svitzer Arthur.

Svitzer Brasil managing director Daniel Reedtz Cohen said, “The addition of Svitzer Atanásio to the fleet of four tugs in Santos further strengthens the company’s capacity in terms of modern vessels and power.” Santos is the busiest port in Brazil.

These 23-m tugs have a top speed of 13 knots and bollard pull of 70 tonnes delivered through main diesel propulsion consisting of twin Rolls-Royce mtu V16 4000 series M63 engines driving two Kongsberg Maritime US205S azimuth Z-drives with 2,800-mm diameter fixed-pitch propellers.

They each have a moulded beam of 11 m, a least-moulded depth of 4 m, a navigational draught of around 5 m and a single-drum hawser winch from Ibercisa.

Ship-handling fendering at the stern consists of a row of W-shaded fenders, while sheer fendering consists of D-shaped rubber and W-shaped block fendering at the bow.

Rio Maguari is building more of these tugboats to the RAmparts 2300-ERM design, scheduled for delivery Q4 2023 and in 2024.