Delivery and order round-up

Batteries in Maritime	Autonomy at Sea	Alternative Fuels	Tugs, Towing & Salvage

Examining the growing role of batteries in maritime, questioning their green credentials while exploring industry insights, operator experiences and lessons learned from early electric vessel adoption worldwide.	Highlighting the innovators advancing subsea and maritime technology, from autonomous underwater swarms to cloud-connected assets and data-driven predictive models, reshaping how real-time conditions at sea are understood globally today.	Exploring one of the workboat sector’s dilemmas today: which emerging fuels hold the most promise in terms of cost, availability, practicality and performance? Or should we simply clean up the Black Gold?	Looking at how tugs, towing and salvage vessels are adapting to stricter regulations; contemplating new propulsion technologies and alternative fuels; and changing design strategies for one of maritime’s most demanding sectors.
Read More	Read More	Read More	Read More

Seawork 15th - 17th June 2027	Speed@Seawork 14th June 2027	Seawork Conferences

The 28th edition of Europe’s largest commercial marine and workboat exhibition provides businesses the opportunity to showcase their services, equipment, vessels and supplies to an international audience.	Speed@Seawork on 14th June in Cowes offers a sector specific event that showcases fast vessels operating at high speed for security interventions and Search & Rescue.	Taking place at the annual Seawork Exhibition in Southampton, UK from 15–17 June 2027, Seawork Conferences deliver a varied programme of sessions featuring expert speakers addressing the latest topical issues in the commercial marine industry.
Visit the Seawork Website	Speed@Seawork on the Seawork Website	View on Seawork

Activity in the tug design and construction market shows no sign of letting up with no fewer than 10 items of news to report this month

Grouping the first three items in the vessel designer category it will be of no surprise to hear that Robert Allan Ltd (RAL) has been particularly active including Turkish shipbuilder Uzmar delivering the RAstar 3200W tug Tsimshian Warrior to SAAM Canada for operation at the Ridley Island Propane Export Terminal in Canada.

The 80tbp tug is built to a high specification and equipped for shiphandling, escort and standby duties including in heavy weather along with fifi1 capabilities and the ability for rescue towing.

The Royal Thai Navy has taken delivery of its second RAmparts 3200 tug from Italthai Marine in Thailand. The LR-classed vessel, named Royal Thai Navy Tug Boat 858 was launched in true naval tradition and provides a bollard pull of 53t from twin MTU 16V4000M54 main engines driving Schottel SRP1212 thrusters.

A delivery of note recorded a little earlier was the first LNG-powered tug in the fleet of Ningbo Zhoushan Port in the form of a RAL RAstar 3800-DF model. Ningbo Port is a customer familiar to RAL, this being its 10^th custom-designed tug. Power on this occasion is via Niigata 8L28AHX-DF engines driving Rolls-Royce US255 CP Z-drives delivering 80tbp. The vessel has a range of 700nm on LNG and nearly 1,700nm in diesel mode.

Turning to Damen, the Netherlands-based shipbuilder has delivered a Multi Cat 1506 to family-owned Marine Constructions of Port Adelaide, Australia, part of a two-vessel dredger/workboat order for a port extension project in Onslow, Western Australia. Both vessels were shipped by sea and road transport from Damen Shipyards Changde China to Australia.

This column reported recently on activity at Nibulon Shipbuilding and Repair and the Ukrainian shipyard has provided an update on the third and fourth POSS-155 project vessels. Tug number three (order 10030) has now completed sea trials where final adjustments were made, and the vessel’s characteristics confirmed allowing entry into service. Assembly of vessel number four is continuing including completion of the pilot house prior to being lifted into place.

Orders at Cantiere Navale Vittoria have also featured recently, and the Italian shipyard has now delivered the ASD tug Rome-Moscow to the Russian Federation. As well as conventional towing and pushing duties in both harbours and open sea it will assist in the dismantling of decommissioned nuclear submarines in the Barents Sea

Turning to orders, Rimorchiatori Riuniti subsidiary, Rimorchiatori Mediterranei has ordered a Damen ASD Tug 2810 for operation in Sicily. The vessel, to be named Capo Peloro follows a similar example, Capo Boeo delivered to the same owner in 2016 and will be delivered from Damen’s Song Cam Shipyard in Vietnam on its own keel towards the end of this year.

Upgrades to the standard model include: fifi1 capabilities, upgraded towing hooks, oil recovery notation and a double independent drum winch: Capo Peloro will have a bollard pull of 60t.

Turkey’s Sanmar Shipyard is now an established member of the ‘build for stock’ club with construction underway on a new series of RAL RAstar 3200-SX tugs, to be known as the Kocaçay class. The first two examples of these shallow-draught high-performance escort tugs are being built for Orkney Islands Council Marine Services.

The 84tbp Kocaçay class is equipped for towing over both the bow and stern and with an eye to satisfying classification society preferences of potential clients it will comply with applicable rules and regulations of both BV and RINA. The Caterpillar-powered tugs will be fitted with Rolls-Royce Z-drives and provide accommodation for up to 10 persons in MLC 2006-compliant cabins all above the waterline.

Turning finally to news of note from the US, Seattle-based Jensen Maritime Consultants has won a contract to design ship-assist and escort tugs for Moran Towing Corp for tug and barge operations on the US east and Gulf coasts.

The Caterpillar/Rolls-Royce combination powered tugs will provide a bollard pull of 68 tons and include upgrades to comply with USCG and EPA Tier IV requirements intended to meet current and future demands for performance and manoeuvrability. They will be the latest in a series of seven Jensen-designed tugs for Moran over the past decades.

By Peter Barker