Escort News

New Orleans-based marine towage provider Crescent Towing announced it has taken delivery of its newest tugboat, Angus R. Cooper II.The new escort tug was constructed at Blakeley BoatWorks in Mobile, Ala., to be added to Crescent's ship assist operations in the Port of Savannah, Georgia. It is powered by twin Caterpillar 3516E EPA Tier 4 engines, each producing 3,004HP to power Kongsberg 255 fixed pitch azimuthing drives (z-drives).This vessel is named in recognition of The Cooper Group’s longtime Chairman and CEO.

Sanmar Shipyards is delivering a new tug for Targe Towing in Scotland. Known as BIGAÇAY Xl while under construction, the tug was renamed Camperdown by its new owners, and was on its way to its new home port of Aberdeen.Camperdown is based on the exclusive-to-Sanmar RAstar 2900SX from Robert Allan Ltd., primarily intended for demanding escort operations in exposed areas.Measuring 29.4 x 13.3m with a 5.5m molded depth and 5.75m design draft, the tug can achieve a minimum of 85 tonnes of bollard pull ahead and astern.

If nothing else, building vessels in the U.S. is a complicated business.In a session on the domestic shipbuilding marketplace, at Marine Money’s late-November 2023 conference held in New Orleans, Ben Bordelon, president and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards (with more than a dozen facilities, in Mississippi and Louisiana), described his company’s architecture as a “three-legged stool approach: commercial newbuilds, government newbuilds and repair/conversion capabilities”.On the same panel…

Turkish tugboat builder and operator Sanmar announced it has launched a new vessel in its exclusive Kocaçay Series of high-powered escort tugs, scheduled to be delivered to Italian customer Rimorchiatori Laziali in May.Kocaçay lX is based on the RAstar 3200SX design developed especially for Sanmar by Canadian naval architects Robert Allan Ltd.The tug’s design is primarily intended for escort operations in exposed areas where exceptional seakeeping capabilities are essential. Following its launch…

Crowley Maritime Corporation has owned and operated a lot of vessels since its founding in 1892. But the latest vessel to join its fleet is unlike any other that has come before it.Crowley’s new harbor tug, eWolf, is unique in that it runs 100% powered by batteries, not diesel engines, meaning it produces zero emissions and nearly no noise. Not only is the vessel the first fully electric tug in the Crowley fleet, but it is also the first of its kind in the United States.Faced with stricter regulations and commercial pressure to prioritize environmental…

The Indian Navy said it had freed a hijacked Iranian fishing vessel from nine armed pirates in the Arabian Sea on Friday, rescuing its crew unharmed.The fishing vessel, Al-Kambar 786, was southwest of the Yemeni island of Socotra on March 28 when it was reported to have been boarded by pirates, according to a statement from the navy late on Friday.The ship was intercepted by the INS Sumedha and INS Trishul, leading to "over 12 hours of intense coercive tactical measures" forcing the pirates to surrender…

Turkish shipbuilder Sanmar has delivered the sixth electric power tugboat from its ElectRA series to Norwegian operator Buksér og Berging.Named BB ELECTRA by its new owners, the tug will be based at the Port of Oslo.It boasts exclusive-to-Sanmar ElectRA 2200 SX design from Canadian naval architects Robert Allan, and represents the eighth tug that Sanmar has delivered to Buksér og Berging.With an overall length of 22.2 meters excluding fenders, molded breadth of 10.84 meters and least molded depth of 4.4 meters, BB ELECTRA has 1.718 kWh of battery power.

A third electric-powered tug built by Sanmar Shipyards in Turkiye has arrived in Vancouver, Canada, to join HaiSea Marine’s fleet.HaiSea Brave will work in Vancouver alongside its sisters HaiSea Wamis and HaiSea Wee'git before all three – along with two Sanmar-built liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled tugs – are transferred to LNG Canada’s new export facility in Kitimat, British Columbia.Based on the ElectRA 2800 SX design by Canadian naval architects Robert Allan Ltd, HaiSea Brave…

Yemen's Houthis fired a missile that likely targeted the Torm Thor in the Gulf of Aden on Feb. 24 but missed the U.S.-flagged oil tanker, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Monday, as the Iran-aligned militia steps up attacks on ships.Shipping risks have escalated due to repeated Houthi drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait since November in support of Palestinians in Gaza. U.S. and British forces have responded with several strikes on Houthi…

The Greek-flagged bulk cargo vessel Sea Champion arrived in the southern Yemeni port of Aden on Tuesday after being attacked in the Red Sea in what appeared to have been a mistaken missile strike by Houthi militia, shipping and military sources said.Shipping risks are escalating due to repeated drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait by the Iran-aligned Houthis since November. U.S. and British forces have responded with several strikes on Houthi facilities but have so far failed to halt the attacks.The Sea Champion…

A new tugboat is slated to enter service for Bisso Towboat this Spring.The Luling, La. based marine towage provider has been working with Main Iron Works to update its fleet, replacing a conventional tug with a tractor tug about every 18 months. In late 2022, the Houma, La. shipbuilder began building a new tractor tug Mr. Brian—the sixth azimuth stern drive (ASD) tractor tug built by Main Iron Works for Bisso in the past eight years.Named after Bisso’s vice president of operations Brian Cyprowski…

Sanmar rounded off 2023 with delivery of two new heavy-duty tugs to the Directorate General of Coastal Safety at a ceremony attended by leading politicians and maritime industry executives.Built at Sanmar’s Altinova Shipyard in the heart of the Turkish maritime sector, KURTARMA 17 and KURTARMA 18 are both 29.4m long, 13.3m wide and have a maximum draft of 5.75m. They are each powered by two high-speed Caterpillar 3516C main engines enabling them to achieve an impressive towing force of 82 tons.Known as BIGAÇAY Xlll and BIGAÇAY X before being renamed by their new owner…

Signet Sirius, the first of two ART 92-32W Rotortugs was recently delivered by Signet Maritime at their Pascagoula Shipbuilding and Repair facility. This is the first ART Rotortug that Signet has built and operated in their fleet. Designed by Robert Allan Ltd. in collaboration with RotorTug BV, the Advanced Rotortugs (ART) incorporate the patented triple Z-drive Rotortug propulsion layout, featuring omni-directional maneuverability, and the benefits of a fully redundant and precise propulsion machinery configuration.

Attacks by Yemeni Houthi rebels on merchant ships in the Red Sea have hit world trade. Between November and December 2023, the number of containers travelling through the Red Sea each day fell by 60% as ships moving goods between Asia and Europe diverted their routes around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.This route results in at least ten days more sailing time, so has caused freight prices to surge and has triggered costly delays to production. The region has become a bottleneck for the global economy before.

Ship traffic in Turkey's Bosphorus Strait is set to resume for northbound vessels as of 1700 GMT on Sunday, after a suspension due to an anchor failure on one ship, the Tribeca shipping agency said.According to a report shared by the agency, the Liberia-flagged tanker Peria's anchor self-released due to bad weather around the Yavuz Sultan Selim bridge area during its passage through the strait and tugs were dispatched for assistance.The ship will proceed to the Kucukcekmece anchorage area under escort tugs, the report also said.(Reuters - Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

India's defense ministry is providing protective escorts to Indian containerships in the high seas around the Red Sea as the security situation there continues to simmer, a government source said on Friday.Containers could face delays of 14 days in their turnaround time due to taking a longer sea route around Africa which is also causing higher transport and insurance costs, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added."The cost of freight & insurance has risen due to ships being compelled to avoid the region & take a longer route.

Analysts and commentators are quick to point out that fossil fuels will power maritime equipment, and indeed dominate the fueling marketplace, well into the future. However, they will do so alongside new fuels, and new technologies, that will be introduced to the maritime sector in the coming years. In its September, 2023 report “Beyond the Horizon: View of the Emerging Energy Value Chains”, the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) explains that, “During the recent 80th meeting of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 80)…

Sanmar’s Altinova Shipyard held a christening ceremony last Saturday for a powerful new harbour tug destined to work for German operator H. Schramm Towage.Lara König, took on the honorary role of godmother to the new tug, which is named Bo after her two-year-old son, who is the godchild of SCHRAMM group owner Hans-Helmut Schramm.Bo is based on the exclusive-to-Sanmar TRAktor-Z 2500SX design from Canadian naval architects Robert Allan, part of the Turkish tug and workboat builder’s Deliçay series.Powered by two high-speed…

Svitzer announced the delivery of Svitzer Estelle, the second tug built as part of the company’s ongoing partnership with Uzmar Shipyards, based in Turkey.Svitzer Estelle is a Robert Allan Ltd. designed RAstar 3200W that will be deployed by Svitzer on the River Thames and the River Medway,bolstering the company’s operations in the busy Port of London. The first tug delivered by Uzmar Shipyards in May 2023, Svitzer Elizabeth, is currently in service in the Port of Liverpool. Svitzer’s partnership with Uzmar Shipyards began with the delivery of two tugs for the company’s fleet in Australia.

The United States on Tuesday launched a multinational operation to safeguard commerce in the Red Sea as attacks by Iran-backed Yemeni militants forced major shipping companies to reroute, stoking fears of sustained disruptions to global trade.The Houthi militant group, which controls vast amounts of territory in Yemen after years of war, has since last month fired drones and missiles at international vessels sailing through the Red Sea - attacks it says respond to Israel's devastating assault on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.This week…

The first new LNG-fueled escort tug built by Sanmar Shipyards in Türkiye for HaiSea Marine has arrived in Vancouver, Canada, ahead of being transferred to LNG Canada’s new export facility in Kitimat.HaiSea Kermode is Canada’s first LNG-fueled tugboat and will soon be joined by its sister tug HaiSea Warrior to form a fleet of five with three Sanmar-built electric-powered emissions-free ElectRA harbor tugs. The two Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) tugboats are based on the RAstar 4000 DF design from Vancouver-based naval architects Robert Allan Ltd.At 40.2 m in length…

A third battery electric tugboat built by Sanmar Shipyards in Türkiye has been delivered to HaiSea Marine,Canada. Haisea Brave is scheduled to work in Vancouver alongside its sisters HaiSea Wamis and HaiSea Wee'Git before all three – along with two Sanmar-built LNG-fuelled tugs – are transferred to LNG Canada’s new export facility in Kitimat, British Columbia.HaiSea Marine is a joint venture majority owned by the Haisla Nation in partnership with Seaspan ULC, that will provide…

The November edition of Marine News magazine highlighted a selection of the most notable American newbuilds delivered of 2023—from a first-of-its-kind green towboat, to the lead vessel in a series of game-changing ships to train U.S. mariners.Empire StateAs the lead vessel in a series of five new training ships being constructed to serve America's state maritime academies, Empire State is easily one of the most important U.S.-built vessels delivered in recent memory.Built by Philly Shipyard for the U.S.