HaiSea Unveils New Operations Facility for Its Green Tug Fleet
HaiSea Marine, majority owned by Haisla Nation in partnership with Seaspan ULC, is celebrating the official naming and blessing of its new floating operations facility â which will be the home base for its fleet of three full-electric and two liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled tugboats.The new facility, named Zewén, is a floating operations and maintenance building purpose-built and designed to withstand the extreme tidal range in the Kitimat region. It features a large workshopâŚ
Third Sanmar ElectRA Tug Arrives in Vancouver
A third electric-powered tug built by Sanmar Shipyards in Turkiye has arrived in Vancouver, Canada, to join HaiSea Marineâs fleet.HaiSea Brave will work in Vancouver alongside its sisters HaiSea Wamis and HaiSea Wee'git before all three â along with two Sanmar-built liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled tugs â are transferred to LNG Canadaâs new export facility in Kitimat, British Columbia.Based on the ElectRA 2800 SX design by Canadian naval architects Robert Allan Ltd, HaiSea BraveâŚ
KOTUG Takes Full Ownership of Its Bahamas Towage JV with SEACOR
KOTUG International, a marine services and towage provider based in the Netherlands, announced on Thursday it has concluded its acquisition of Kotug Seabulk Maritime (KSM), taking full ownership of the Caribbean marine towage business.KOTUG said it has acquired the interest of its joint venture partner, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based SEACOR Holdings via its Seabulk subsidiary KS Maritime Holdings, owner of the 50% share in KSM.Founded in 2017, KSM acts as the exclusive provider of maritime terminal support services for Buckeye Partnersâ Bahamas HubâŚ
Louis Meyer Orders Damenâs Compact ASD Tug 2111
Neue Schleppdampfschiffsreederei Louis Meyer GmbH & Co. KG of Hamburg has placed an order with Damen Shipyards for the one of the first of its next generation ASD Tug 2111 class. The vessel will be operated on a long-term charter by Emder Schlepp-Betrieb GmbH (ESB) for operations in its home port of Emden, one of the top three ports in Europe for car shipping. There, its shallow draft and compact size together with its over 50 tonnes of bollard pull, make it ideal for manoeuvringâŚ
Insights: Blaine Dempke, CEO, Markey
Established in 1907 as the Industrial Revolution arrived to Seattle, Markey is the oldest privately-held winch manufacturer in the United States today. The company was formed in the Georgetown District of what later became known as King County, Wash. The Markey sign above its original manufacturing plant, on Horton Street, is still retained, although Markey has since moved to its current facility on 8th Avenue South.Markey was a major supplier to the U.S. Navy in both world warsâŚ
Svitzer Expands Its Tug Fleet in Brazil
A.P. Moller - Maersk's towage arm Svitzer announced the continued expansion of its fleet in Brazil, as part of the ongoing growth of its operations in the country.Svitzer Monte KT is the fourth tug to join the fleet in the country since April. The vessel is a sister to three tugs already delivered to Svitzer in 2023, which have been deployed across the ports of Pécem, Paranagua, and Santos on Brazilâs coast. The tug is one of six new Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) tugs that will be put into operation by Svitzer in Brazil before the end of 2024.
Sanmar Delivers Second Electric Tug for Western Canada
Turkey's Sanmar Shipyards announced it has delivered a second electric-powered tug to HaiSea Marine in Canada.The newly built HaiSea Weeâgit and its sister HaiSea Wamis, delivered earlier this year, will provide harbor and escort tugboat services to tankers calling at LNG Canadaâs new export facility in Kitimat, British Columbia. A third electric tug, HaiSea Brave, is scheduled to be delivered later this year.The 28.4-meter-long tugs are based on the exclusive-to-Sanmar ElectRA 2800SX design from Vancouver-headquartered naval architects, Robert Allan Ltd.
Powering the North American Maritime Fuel Transition
Offshore service vessels, along with workboats serving harbors and inland rivers, have embarked on an industry-wide voyage toward reduced emissions of greenhouse gasses. Professor Craig Philip, a faculty member with Vanderbilt Universityâs Center for Transportation and Operational Resilience (VECTOR) and former CEO of Ingram Barge Company, provides this context: âThe Maritime Sector has long provided shippers with the most fuel-efficient and sustainable freight transport optionâŚ
OSVs Help to Power North American Maritime Fuel Transition
The fuel switch in maritime is on, its real, and it will be driving vessel design, construction and operation decisions for decades to come. While many still debate the merits of each alternative fuel, OSV industry leaders are at the forefront driving change, and they need to be, as in North America alone OSVs makes up 17% of the fleet but contributes 29% of the maritime emissions. In the next edition of Offshore Engineer, Barry Parker takes a deeper dive on the plans underway to wean maritime operations off of fossil fuels.
Svitzer Slowing Down to Slash Emissions
A.P. Moller-Maersk's towage operator arm Svitzer on Thursday said it will limit vessel speeds across its entire tug fleet after a speed reduction pilot program led to considerable emissions reductions.Svitzer's so-called Aim for 8 speed initiativeâfirst trialed in the U.K. from late 2021âasks tug crews to navigate at a maximum speed of eight knots during mobilization and demobilization in an effort to reduce fuel burn and vessel emissions. Svitzer said this speed target was chosenâŚ
Svitzer Divests its Portuguese Business
Svitzer intends to sell its Portuguese marine operations to Pioneiro do Rio, Serviços Maritimos, Lda., a company which has Rui Cruz, the current managing director of Svitzer Portugal, among its owners.The operation in Portugal has faced declining volumes and the synergy between the Portuguese ports and Svitzerâs remaining European and global portfolio has proven limited. Svitzerâs operation in Portugal covers three ports: Lisbon, Setubal, and Sines and holds a fleet of 15 tugs.
McAllister Taps ABS for Sustainability Reporting
ABS is supporting McAllister on its sustainability journey with greenhouse gas inventory and sustainability reporting services for its fleet of more than 75 tugboats, crew boats and barges.ABS specialists worked with McAllisterâs team to calculate its operational carbon intensity and benchmark the performance of its fleet, leading up to an Environmental, Societal and Governance (ESG) report. The team helped McAllister establish a transparent governance and stakeholder engagement strategyâŚ
DOD Taps Sea Machines for Autonomous Replenishment Vessels
Boston-based Sea Machines Robotics, a developer of autonomous command and control systems for surface vessels, said it has been awarded a multi-year Other Transaction (OT) agreement by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)âs Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to initiate a prototype that will enable commercial ocean-service barges as autonomous Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP) units for an Amphibious Maritime Projection Platform (AMPP).Under this OT agreement, Sea Machines will engineerâŚ
Schottel Hybrid Drive for 'Worldâs First' LNG Hybrid Tug
Singapore-based Sembcorp Marine chose Schottelâs azimuthal hybrid drive system SYDRIVE-E to power the worldâs first liquefied natural gas (LNG) hybrid tug. With this first in a series of 12 vessels, Sembcorp Marine will build the worldâs first hybrid LNG-fueled tug fleet that will replace its existing diesel-powered tugs. The vessel is designed by LMG Marin, a wholly owned Sembcorp Marine subsidiary, and a leading naval architecture design house in Bergen, Norway, which providesâŚ
Eastern Delivers Tug to Bisso Offshore
Eastern Shipbuilding Group said it has delivered the second of two 80-foot, 5,100-horsepower Z-drive tugs for Bisso Offshore, a division of E.N. Bisso & Son of New Orleans, La.Following delivery on June 11, the newbuild ship-handling tug A. Thomas Higgins completed its bollard pull testing witnessed by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and received its USCG Sub-M Certificate of Inspection (COI). In addition to A. Thomas Higgins, E.N. Bisso has taken delivery of five previous modern Z-drive ship assist tugs from Eastern from 2007, including Josephine Anne, Beverly B, Elizabeth B, Archie T.
Eastern Launches Tug for Bisso Offshore
Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. has launched the second of two 80â 5,100 HP Z-Drive tugs for Bisso Offshore, LLC, a division of E.N. Bisso & Son, Inc. The A. Thomas Higgins, currently under construction at Easternâs Allanton facility, was launched on January 31, 2020.The RAL RApport 2400 Z-Drive ship-handling tug design was provided by Robert Allan Ltd located in Vancouver, Canada. The C.D. White, the first vessel of the series, delivered in January of this year.Long-term customer E.N.
Camera Systems Installed Across Wilson Sons' Tug Fleet
Brazilian port and maritime logistics operator Wilson Sons is installing internet and camera systems on its tug fleet to allow real-time visualization of operations and maneuvers, including by customers.Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) and Network Cabling project was developed by the company's innovation laboratory Tuglab, in partnership with the IT management of the companyâs towage division.In total, 480 cameras and local internet network will be installed. The equipment has already been installed in almost half of the tugboat fleetâŚ
Svitzer Australia Welcomes New Tugs
Svitzer Australia has welcome two new vessels to its fleet in 2019, as two UZMAR-built RAstar 3200 series tugboats begin the journey from Turkey to their respective home ports.A delivery ceremony was hosted by UZMAR on 12 March 2019 for the two tugboats, Svitzer Ruby and Svitzer Redhead.The 85-tonne bollard pull tug, Svitzer Ruby, will join Port Kembla in May 2019, and the 80-tonne bollard pull tug, Svitzer Redhead, will join the team in Fremantle in late April 2019.The vessels were designed by the reputable Canadian naval architecture firm Robert Allan Ltd.The two escort towage capable vessels feature render recovery winches, FiFi1 class notation for firefightingâŚ
Eastern Delivers Tug to E.N. Bisso
Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. has delivered the first of two 80â 5,100 HP Z-Drive tugs for Bisso Offshore, LLC, a division of E.N. Bisso & Son, Inc.The M/V C.D. White, handed over on January 8, 2020, is a RAL RApport 2400 Z-drive ship-handling tug design provided by Robert Allan Ltd.The vessel has completed its bollard pull testing witnessed by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and received its USCG Subchapter M Certificate of Inspection (COI).C.D. White and sister vessel M/V A.
Damen Sells Two ASD Tugs to Ecuador
Dutch shipbuilding giant Damen Shipyards Group said that it has sold two Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) Tugs to Ecuador-based DLEN S.A.According to the operator of 36 shipbuilding and repair yards, the vessels will give tug assistance during bunkering operations to Corpetrolsaâs fleet of tankers, a subsidiary of DLEN, as well as other vessels entering the ports of Esmeraldas and La Libertad.The new two-vessel order follows hot on the heels of last yearâs delivery of three Damen Stan Tugs to the DLEN. In terms of fuel efficiency, power and manoeuvrability, those three vessels have proven their worth to such an extent that the client returnedâŚ
Port of Cape Town Boosts Tug Fleet
Transnet National Ports Authority has redeployed a new tug to the Port of Cape Town, as Tug UMBILO went into service recently after being redeployed from the Port of Durban.Built in 2017, UMBILO was the sixth of nine new vessels to roll off the production line as part of $95 million tug construction contract being executed by Durban ship builder Southern African Shipyards. The Port of Cape Town also took delivery of tug USIBA last year, originally intended for the Port of RichardsâŚ
Port Nelson Gets New Tug
New Zealand's Port Nelson has taken delivery of the new tug boat Huria Matenga II tug.Arriving from Vietnam, the Damen built 70 tonne bollard pull, 2441 tug, was welcomed by the Port's existing tug fleet as well as the pilot and harbour master boats.Pilot John Tregidga was aboard the Huria Matenga II, 35 years and 7 months since the Huria Matenga arrived at Port Nelson from Japan. John was part of the crew who sailed the Huria Matenga from Japan back in 1983.A small blessing ceremony for the Huria Matenga II was conducted by iwi ahead of the tug starting operations.The ceremony was led by Archdeacon Harvey Ruru and included members of Huria Matengaâs tribe, Ngati Tama.
KOTUG and SCI Kick Off Mariner Training Partnership
The Training & Consultancy division of KOTUG International (KOTUG) and U.S. maritime education and maritime training provider the Seamenâs Church Institute (SCI) entered into a strategic partnership to offer exclusive training of tug masters, shipsâ crews, river barge shippers, and pilots by certified KOTUG trainers at SCI training facilities across the United States. The partnership was officially kicked-off by hosting Moran Towing Corporation for a week of ASD operator training assisted by Riven Marine founder Captain Jay Rivera.Since 2019âŚ