After a break of three years due to the pandemic, the highly regarded International Tug & Salvage Convention (ITS) is returning under new ownership, heading for Turkey.
The last ITS was due to be held in Singapore in 2020 but the pandemic led to it being cancelled and the ABR Co Ltd, which has organised the event since its inception, also fell victim to Covid and was forced into receivership.
ITS, along with the alternating biennial Tugnology conference, has now come under the ownership of Riviera Maritime Media, whereby the future of these popular industry events will hopefully be secured into the future.
ITS 2022 will be the 26th ITS Convention, Exhibition & Awards and takes place in Istanbul from 28-30 September.
Described as a “premier” event, ITS brings the towing and salvage community together, where delegates discuss and analyse the latest commercial, operational, regulatory and technical advances.
Exhibition and awards
ITS also includes an exhibition where companies showcase their latest products and services. Industry awards are presented, including a new award Salvage Company of the Year Award that recognises achievements in the salvage industry. A spouse and partner programme, along with a gala dinner, allows attendees to mix some pleasure with their all-important industry business.
With the industry facing myriad pressures and Riviera’s reporting finding safety, profitability and sustainability top of the agenda, the conference aims to address these issues and highlight solutions designed to future-proof the entire industry supply chain. Next-generation tug designs will be examined from the drawing board to the towing deck, including latest IoT and digitalisation developments.
Decarbonisation will naturally be a hot topic, where options for tug owners wishing to venture down the green transition pathway will be examined.
The salvage of alternatively fuelled vessels is on the agenda, including what the associated challenges mean for the salvor. Training and simulation, sustainability and the port interface are among other subjects to be covered in a programme that promises to continue to provide the conduit for all corners of the towage and salvage industry to get together both for business and socially.
Conference highlights
The conference is the ‘main event’ of the three-day convention and the programme indicates a similar pattern to previous ITS occasions involving quality speakers from the towage and salvage industry, including operators/owners, shipyards and component manufacturers.
With decarbonisation at the top of every agenda now, ITS is no exception and sustainability or ‘green’ topics are themes throughout.
From Tamer Geckin, Director R&D and Electrical Systems of Sanmar Shipyards, who in the third session will present a paper on the ElectRA Class: Environmentally friendly and fully electric battery-powered tugboats, to the penultimate Session 9, ‘Getting to zero: Making ambition a reality’, presented by Svitzer Head of Decarbonisation Gareth Prowse, there will be no getting away from arguably the main driver in the industry today.
However there are other important topics explored in between, with sessions such as the second one looking at strategies that deliver competitive advantages, including span powering, voyage and vessel optimization as well as emissions reduction. Port interface will be discussed in Session 7, with infrastructure likely to see big changes as fuel requirements change, and how tugboats will fit in with port operations.
There are two sessions on next-generation design, encompassing machine learning, energy saving and alternative fuels, which will be explored by Robert Allan naval architect Robert Gage in Session 3 in terms of harbour, escort and salvage tug design.
Svitzer Group head of Technical Innovation Thomas Bangslund and director Project Development for Robert Allan will jointly present on the TRAnsverse tug and underwater hull choices, manoeuvring characteristics and automation elements, before Med Marine Pilotage and Towage coworkers Sidar Gökce and Mehmet Fatih Ucak talk about converting tugs for future fuels such as methanol and hydrogen.
The fifth and first of two sessions will explore ‘Technology Pathways to 2050’, with critical analysis of fuel and electric options facing tug owners and operators.
All in all, Riviera is promising a comprehensive and varied programme throughout, alongside the usual networking, exhibition and gala dinner opportunities.
