Rastar News

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…

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…

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 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…

Bay-Houston Towing has inked a deal with Port Neches, Texas shipbuilder Sterling Shipyard to build multiple new tugs to serve the Texas Gulf Coast region.The new vessels will be Robert Allan Ltd. designed RAstar 3200-W ASD ship handling and escort tugs for berthing/unberthing large ships and providing escort and emergency response in exposed coastal areas with demanding sea states.“The addition of the RAstar 3200-W further diversifies our fleet and provides an extremely powerful…

This week, Canada welcomed the arrival of the its first fully electric tugboat, HaiSea Wamis.Built by Sanmar Shipyards in Turkey, the vessel is the first in a series of three Robert Allan Ltd. designed ElectRA 2800 battery electric harbor tugs being constructed for HaiSea Marine, a joint venture partnership between the Haisla First Nation and Seaspan ULC.Together with HaiSea’s incoming dual-fuel (liquefied natural gas [LNG] and diesel) escort tugs, the fleet will make the voyage…

Uzmar’s shipyard in Turkey has delivered a new tug to Svitzer, the towage arm of Danish shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk.The newly completed RAstar 3200-W, named Svitzer Elizabeth, was designed by Robert Allan Ltd. and will be the first Uzmar tug to be part of Svitzer’s European fleet, operating in the Port of Liverpool, England.The combination of 80+ tonnes bollard pull, escort, Fi-Fi 1, exceptional seakeeping and < 500 GT of this design has proven successful for Uzmar and Robert Allan Ltd., the designer said.

HaiSea Marine, majority owned by Haisla Nation in partnership with Seaspan ULC, celebrated the naming and blessing of its tug boat fleet – which includes the world’s first fully electric harbor tug boat, along with dual fuel (LNG and Diesel) escort tug boats. Once delivered, the green fleet will provide ship-assist and escort towing services to LNG carriers calling at LNG Canada’s new export facility in Kitimat in the traditional territory of the Haisla Nation.Members of the Haisla Nation joined representatives from Seaspan…

Turkish shipbuilder Uzmar has built thee new tugs for Smit Lamnalco.Designed by Robert Allan Ltd., the three purpose-designed and -built RAstar 4200 ASD tugs SL Ibo, SL Matemo and SL Macaloe were ordered in 2019. They are the first RAstar 4200 design vessels used for terminal support and have been outfitted specially for these operations. These new 42-meter tugs are specifically designed to be operated in the offshore area near the northeast coast of Pemba, Mozambique. The three tugboats will be working together with one multipurpose vessel as a fleet in support of FLNG operation…

Kenya Port Authority's new tug,  Mwokozi II, was delivered to her home port of Mombasa on January 10, 2022.The Mwokozi II is a custom design 42-meter, 120 tonne bollard pull RAstar 4200 salvage and harbor tug developed by Robert Allan Ltd., with particularly outstanding performance in maneuvering, seakeeping, and stability.The Turkish shipbuilder Med Marine was contracted to build the new tugboat at its group owned Eregli Shipyard. The keel was laid on March 23, 2020, and construction…

Sanmar Shipyards reports it has completed a record number of vessels within one calendar month, with six tugs and two pilot boats gaining their class certificates during January 2022.The record-breaking start to the New Year takes the total number of projects completed by Sanmar to more than 300, with 302 being completed to date.Sanmar builds tugboats at its two custom-built shipyards in Turkey. Its production capacity will be boosted further when a third yard, acquired in 2021…

Maersk's towage arm Svitzer announced another extension of its current contract with the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) to include two additional tugs to service the vital trade artery.Turkish tugboat builder Med Marine will deliver the two new vessels, both RAstar 2800 75tonnes bollard pull tugs with firefighting capabilities and escort notation, designed by Robert Allan Ltd.Svitzer started operating in the Suez Canal in late 2019 with the two tugs Svitzer Port Said 1 and Svitzer Port Said 2, providing towage services to the SCA out of Port Said.

A pair of new new tugs at the Port of Acajutla will provide services for the first project to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) to El Salvador, a joint initiative from Energía del Pacífico (EDP) and the U.S. group Invenergy.The SAAM Towage vessels SAAM Acaxual and SAAM Centzunat were christened as part of the festivities to celebrate the arrival of the first floating storage and regassification unit (FSRU), the BW Tatiana, at the city’s port. This is the first FSRU stationed…

Svitzer Suez 1, the first RAstar 2800-CL ASD escort tug, has been delivered to Svitzer Egypt LLC by Cheoy Lee Shipyards and will soon commence operations in the Suez Canal. Svitzer are the first owners of this new escort tug design and a further nine tugs to this design have already been ordered with Cheoy Lee.The RAstar 2800-CL design started with a “blank sheet of paper”, according to naval architecture firm Robert Allan Ltd., who said one of the primary goals of the design was to make it extremely flexible allowing for various propulsion machinery options…

German propulsion firm Schottel has secured an order to deliver a total of ten rudder propellers and two transverse thrusters for five tugs that will serve the LNG carriers stopping at an LNG export facility in Canada.Schottel's equipment will be installed on two LNG-fuelled escort tugs, as well as in three battery-powered harbor tugs. Ordered by Canadian HaiSea Marine, a partnership between the Haisla Nation and Seaspan ULC, the vessels will provide ship assist and towing services to LNG carriers stopping at a new LNG export facility in Kitimat, British Columbia.

Turkish shipbuilder Sanmar Shipyards announced it has inked a deal with HaiSea Marine for the build and delivery of three liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled escort tugs and two battery-electric harbor tugs which will provide ship-assist and escort towing services to LNG carriers calling at LNG Canada’s new export facility in Kitimat, B.C., on Canada's west coast.Following an initial tender process which began in 2018, HaiSea Marine has awarded the contract for all five tugs to Sanmar plus an option for a sixth.

A pair of Schottel RudderPropellers type SRP 710 have left the German production site in Wismar and are on their way to the Turkish shipyard Med Marine for installation in a new tug. The salvage tug, which has been ordered by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) will be equipped with main and auxiliary propulsion systems from Schottel . By this, the vessel will achieve an expected bollard pull of more than 120 tons. The Robert Allan RAstar 4200 (MED-A42120) design vessel is considered…

Turkey's Sanmar Shipyards said it has won contracts worth $33.46 million to supply four new tugs and two new pilot boats for the Port Qasim Authority (PQA) in Pakistan. The tugs are scheduled to be delivered in 12 months and the pilot boats in 10.The contracts were awarded following an international tendering process during which Sanmar championed its new Kocacay range of escort and harbor tugs, based on the exclusive-to-Sanmar RAstar 3200SX design from Canada-based naval architects Robert Allan Ltd.

SAAM Towage said it will soon take delivery of two new vessels, SAAM Acaxual and SAAM Centzunat, built by Turkish shipbuilder Uzmar to provide services at the Energía del Pacífico (EDP) liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in El Salvador.The new RAstar 3200W tugs measure 32 meters long and were especially designed by Robert Allan Ltd. to meet the needs of the Acajutla gas terminal, with bollard pull of more than 80 tons and a speed of over 13.5 knots.Each vessel has two CAT 3516C 2350 kW engines and Kongsberg US255 FP azimuth thrusters.Their design features…

Svitzer Australia recently took delivery of a new RAstar 3000-W series ASD tug, Svitzer North, from ASL Shipyard in Singapore.The vessel's design was developed by Robert Allan Ltd. in close cooperation with Svitzer’s operations team, to meet the unique demands of the Port of Geraldton, Western Australia. With over 400 ship visits per year, the port’s primary cargo is iron ore, with over 10 MTPA exported. The port is located in a sensitive environmental area, requiring the tug to be at the forefront of safety and reliability…

A unique partnership formed between the Haisla Nation and North Vancouver-based Seaspan ULC will produce battery-powered and low emissions liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual fuel tugboats to serve the $40 billion LNG Canada project in Kitimat, B.C.Majority-owned by the Haisla Nation, the new venture is called HaiSea Marine, which has a major contract with LNG Canada to build and operate escort tugs and harbor tugs required for the largescale LNG export facility. The company will…

Svitzer Australia has taken delivery of its third and final new tug, Svitzer Wilu, welcomed to the Port of Geraldton on March 22, joining Svitzer North and Svitzer Abrolhos to form the new fleet.Designed by Robert Allan Ltd., the RAstar 3000-W series ASD tug Svitzer Wilu is 30 meters long, has 70 tonnes of bollard pull and increased safety capabilities with advanced firefighting capabilities on board.Main propulsion comprises of a pair of Caterpillar 3516C, IMO Tier II 2 certified diesel engines, each rated 2240 bkW at 1800 rpm, and driving a Schottel SRP 460FP Z-drive unit.

Bay-Houston Towing Co. in January took delivery of the final tug in a series of five ordered from Gulf Island Shipyards LLC in 2018.George M and its four sister vessels are Z-Tech 30-80 tugs designed by Robert Allan Ltd. The series' first tug Mark E. Kuebler was delivered in 2019.Robert Allan Ltd. said the Z-Tech 30-80 design incorporates its unique RAstar series sponsoned hull form in the existing Z-Tech design, which enhances the tug's escort capabilities by generating more than 100 mt of steering force at 10 knots.Bay-Houston Towing Co.