Tugboat News

In the early hours of Friday, June 20, Great Lakes Towing tugs conducted an  efficient refloating operation of the foreign-flagged freighter SUNNANVIK, which had become lodged in the narrow mouth of the Cuyahoga River near the East Bank of the Flats.At approximately 12:43 a.m., the 9,000-ton SUNNANVIK became wedged in the canal, temporarily disrupting traffic. The Great Lakes Towing Company responded, dispatching two tugs. NEW YORK navigated by Captain Tim Herrle, arrived on scene around 2:30 a.m.…

SCHOTTEL is to equip a new OX series tractor tug from U.S.-based aluminum workboat builder Silverback Marine with two SCHOTTEL RudderPropellers type SRP 100. Designed in collaboration with Seattle headquartered Elliott Bay Design Group, the truckable tug will have a bollard pull of almost seven tons and ensure excellent maneuverability with an extremely compact size of just 7.9 meters (26’-0”) in length and 4.4 meters (14’- 6”) in width. The vessel, being built for the U.S. Department of Defense, is expected to be delivered in late 2025.

Sanmar Shipyards has delivered an environmentally responsible tugboat to Buksérog Berging.Based on the RAmparts 2400SX-MKII design, exclusively developed in collaboration with Canadian naval architects Robert Allan Ltd., the vessel was originally constructed as Boğaçay LXV and has been renamed BOSS by her new owners. Designed for maneuverability, operational efficiency, and all-weather reliability, BOSS measures 24.40 meters in length, with a molded beam of 12 meters, a least molded depth of 4.5 meters, and a navigational draft of approximately 5.45 meters.

Severe weather caused an overwhelming towline force and unrecoverable heeling that led to the capsizing and sinking of a towing vessel near Galveston, Texas, last year, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has concluded.On May 13, 2024, while towing the barge Marmac 27 astern on an 800‑foot‑long wire, the towing vessel Baylor J. Tregre encountered severe weather, listed to port, capsized and sank. The four-person crew abandoned the vessel into a liferaft and were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. One crewmember sustained minor injuries. There was no pollution reported.

SANMAR launched a compact tug for new customer NEMECA – the first tugboat it has built for Greece.The Bigaçay range ASD tug is based on the exclusive-to-SANMAR RAstar 2900SX design from Canadian naval architects Robert Allan Ltd, and can achieve a bollard pull of more than 80 tons.NEMECA owns and operates a fleet of tugboats in Piraeus, Thessaloniki and Kavala providing harbour towage, open sea towage and salvage services. It also provides suitable vessels to carry out anchor handling…

On April 5, 2025, Moran Towing celebrated the christening of the Mary Jane Moran with their crews, customers, port partners, and the family of the namesake in Port Arthur, TX. The event marked the arrival of a powerful new tug and honored a family who have been a part of our story for decades.Named in honor of Mary Jane Marchisotto, wife of longtime employee Alan Marchisotto, the christening was a heartfelt tribute to the personal connections that drive their work every day.The Mary Jane Moran was named in honor of Mary Jane Marchisotto, wife of longtime employee Alan Marchisotto.

Thordon Bearings has seen its RiverTough tailshaft bearing solution surpass 500 installations in the workboat sector.Primarily a retrofit solution but also increasingly specified for newbuilds, RiverTough is designed for coastal and inland waterways, where conditions are typically muddy and abrasive. The solution, applied in combination with hard-coated nickel-chrome-boron (NiCrB) Thordon shaft sleeves, has been verified as outlasting rubber bearings by a factor of two or more in the harshest operating environments.

Tsuneishi Shipbuilding launched Japan’s first tugboat to be equipped with a hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine (ICE). This vessel was launched in late March at Tsuneishi Factory, equipped with a high-power output hydrogen dual-fuel ICE and a high-pressure hydrogen gas storage system with large-capacity and supply. It also used “JGreeX” which are produced by JFE Steel Corporation as green steel for all of its steel plates.The tugboat is installed with twin 12-cylinder hydrogen-blended engines (4…

Arc Boat Company announced its entrance into the commercial sector. In partnership with a West Coast shipyard, Diversified Marine, Inc., Arc will retrofit a 26 ft tugboat for use in the Port of Los Angeles. The Port of Los Angeles is racing to be zero-emission by 2030, and yet is populated with antiquated tugboats that are expensive, inefficient, and highly polluting. With the first of many modern vessels that are more capable, cleaner, and built domestically, this workboat is a first step towards modernizing the busiest container port in the Western Hemisphere.In recognition of the importance of shipbuilding, the U.S. government has announced a flurry of new incentives to revive domestic capacity…

Robert Allan Ltd. has been awarded a contract to design an AmpRA 3600 battery-electric tug for Shandong Port Group – Rizhao Port Towing Company, in China.Two vessels will be constructed at Rizhao Gangda Shipbuilding Heavy Industry and will be the fifth and sixth tugs designed by Robert Allan Ltd. for this owner.Following on the development of the successful battery-electric and hybrid designs operation in Canada, Chile, Norway, The Netherlands, Türkiye, and the US, this new design…

With your first steps as a cadet onto the Maritime Academy campus, your first union dues payment or first line thrown ashore from the tug, you are lectured on the importance of the “Jones Act”. A constant reminder throughout a US Seafarer’s career of commitment, loyalty and support for the legislation. All in the name of National Security, US Job protection and the advancement of the US Flag Merchant Marine. It is a massive and expensive lobbying effort witnessed throughout generations at sea. The effort has been historically successful.

The first electric tugboat in Latin America, which will operate in Chile thanks to an agreement between Enap and SAAM Towage, continues to advance with the latest sea trials and bollard pull testing at the shipyard vicinity in Tuzla Bay, Istanbul.This process inspects compliance with technical specifications and verifies the static behavior and performance of the different systems installed, thus guaranteeing safe operations.The tug, which will operate for Enap, is scheduled to arrive in Chile in the first half of 2025.

AYK Energy was contracted to manufacture and supply the 6MWh battery that will power the world’s first battery-methanol tug, to be built at Uzmar for Svitzer. This is AYK’s first contract with Uzmar. The 6MWh battery-powered tug is planned to be deployed in Gothenburg and provide zero-emission services across a quarter of Svitzer’s operations in the Swedish port. The tug is based on Svitzer’s TRAnsverse tug design and the battery will be supported by dual fuel methanol engines…

Sanmar has signed its first contract of 2025, an order for one of its Boğaçay Series tugboats to Ultratug Mexico, which operates at Lazaro Cardenas Port on Mexico’s Pacific coast.Ultratug, headquartered in Santiago, Chile, is one of the leading operators in the harbor towage, salvage, and offshore industry in the Americas, with over 55 years of experience.Ultratug Mexico has been operating under a long-term contract at Lazaro Cardenas Port since 2017 with a modern and versatile…

A second multi-purpose tugboat has joined her twin sister at Rijeka, Croatia’s principal seaport, part of a two-tug contract with the Italian shipping group Scafi for its Croatian subsidiary Jadranski Pomorski Servis.Known as BOĞAÇAY LXXII while under construction in Turkiye the tug, renamed TITAN by her new owner, is now working alongside fellow Bogacay Series tugboat MORETTO.Both 80-ton bollard pull tugs are based on the exclusive-to-Sanmar RAmparts 2400SX MKII design from Robert Allan Ltd.Measuring 24.4m LOA…

The more than half decade that has passed since the inception of the subchapter M towboat rule affords an up-close-and-personal look at how it is going. The scorecard is a mixed bag.More than six years ago, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) began inspecting towing vessels for compliance with the new towboat rules; specifically, 46 CFR Subchapter M. It has been a long road to compliance with many starts and stops, and much learning on both sides of the law.Has it been a success? If success is measured by Certificates of Inspection, then yes.

Sanmar ends 2024 strong with the launch of the first fully electric tugboat to operate in Latin America.Ordered by SAAM Towage, the new tug is based on the exclusive-to-Sanmar ElectRA 2500SX design from naval architects Robert Allan Ltd, and is the eighth fully electric tug Sanmar has built.The tug built for SAAM Towage measures 25.4 x 12.86m with a draft of 5.55m, and with a installed battery capacity 3,616 kWh can achieve a bollard pull ahead of at least 70 tonnes and a speed…

Schottel won an order to supply azimuthing thrusters for four new escort tugs for Seattle-based Saltchuk Marine, the beginning of the renewal of the Saltchuk fleet for operations on the US West Coast, Hawaii, and Alaska.To be built by Eastern Shipbuilding, the vessels are a RApport 2600 design by Canadian naval architect Robert Allan and will measure 25.6 x 12.8m with a 5.5-m draft. Accommodation will be provided for eight persons, and they will be operated by Foss Maritime.Each tug will be equipped with two azimuthing Schottel RudderPropellers of the type SRP 510 each.

ClassNK has classed the ammonia-fueled tugboat ‘Sakigake’ completed by Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) and IHI Power Systems Co., Ltd. as an ammonia-fueled vessel. This is the world's first ammonia-fueled vessel for commercial use (as of August 23, 2024, according to research by NYK). The NYK Group company Shin-Nippon Kaiyosha will employ the vessel in tugboat operations in Tokyo Bay over a three-month demonstration period.This vessel was a Green Innovation Fund Project initiated…

NYK’s ammonia-fueled tugboat Sakigake is commencing operation in Tokyo Bay.The vessel was the subject of a conversion project undertaken by NYK and IHI Power Systems, in cooperation with Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK), and will be the world's first ammonia-fueled tugboat in commercial use.It is undertaking a three-month demonstration for NYK Group company Shin-Nippon Kaiyosha.The vessel’s predecessor, the LNG-fueled tugboat of the same name, was completed in August 2015 as the first LNG-fueled vessel in Japan.

Sanmar delivered a tug designed for escort, ship-handling, and towage work to Italy-based operator Rimorchiatori Laziali as part of its on-going expansion outside the Mediterranean.Known as KOCAÇAY IX while under construction in Turkiye, the tug has been renamed Pellegron by its new owners and will operate in the Arabian Gulf.Based on the exclusive-to-Sanmar RAstar 3200SX design from Canadian naval architects Robert Allan Ltd., Pellegron measures 32m LOA including fenders, with a 13m breadth…

Today, a 'world first' was unveiled in the Port of Antwerp-Bruges: the Methatug, a tugboat which runs on methanol, part of a 'greening program' for the port's fleet. The project is financed by the European research program Horizon 2020 and is part of the FASTWATER project, which aims to demonstrate the feasibility of methanol as a sustainable fuel for the shipping industry.The 30-m-long tugboat has a traction force of 50 tons and can store 12,000 liters of methanol, enough for two weeks of tug work.

On 8 May 2024, KOTUG Canada Inc., a partnership between KOTUG International B.V. and Horizon Maritime Inc., held a keel laying ceremony for two RAsalvor 4400-DFM dual fuel methanol escort tugs – Robert Allan Ltd. design – to service the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, at Sanmar Shipyards Altinova in Yalova, Turkiye. The first tug is expected to be delivered by mid-2025.The tugboats are reportedly the first of their kind to be powered by methanol and are engineered to provide…