Introducing the TRAnsverse Tug

Svitzer recently announced that together with parent company A.P. Moller Maersk and naval architect Robert Allan Ltd (RAL) it was to develop the world’s first methanol fuel cell tug (see MJ January 2022). Details of the vessel, including a new RAL model designation have been unveiled along with the announcement that Turkey’s Sanmar Shipyards will build the vessel.

Following RAL’s pattern of including ‘RA’ in its design name, the towing industry has been introduced to the TRAnsverse Tug. It is another break from the ASD or thruster forwards tractor configuration in adopting an in-line thruster arrangement based on an omni-directional hull form. Svitzer’s example will join a small number of similar tugs gathering favour including the Giano Tug, Holland Shipyards Group’s Eddy Tug and Novatug’s Carrousel RAve Tug (two of which are operated by Multraship Towage & Salvage).

The design has other notable features including what Svitzer calls a “unique towing arrangement” and an innovative staple design along with the Svitzer Catcher and other equipment to automate operational elements. Impressions of the TRAnsverse Tug design illustrate the omni-directional hull with a raised forecastle, accommodation approximately midships and a large semi-enclosure for the winch ‘aft’ which also houses the Svitzer Catcher.

Svitzer states the TRAnsverse tug will be able to generate higher steering forces than most designs of similar dimensions, able to push pull and manoeuvre in all directions “all neatly wrapped in a smaller and nimbler tugboat.” The TRAnsverse Tug is scalable and suitable for all types of harbour and terminal towage operations and delivery of the first example from Sanmar Shipyards is expected in Q3 2023.

James R. Hyslop, manager, project development, Robert Allan Ltd, said: “Robert Allan Ltd is very excited to be part of the team that will bring this new and innovative tug design to the towage market. Integrating all these technologies into one vessel has never been done before and it was a real challenge to do it in a way that is safe, functional, and economic. It was only after an exhaustive tank testing program at HSVA Hamburg, with valuable input from Svitzer’s masters, that the final layout was determined.”