The Danish headquartered global towage provider Svitzer, part of shipping conglomerate A.P Moller-Maersk, has announced the successful delivery of “Svitzer Estelle” from the Turkish based tug-builder UZMAR Shipyard.
The “Svitzer Estelle” is the second tug built by UZMAR for Svitzer of the Robert Allan Ltd. designed RAstar 3200W type, and the tug will be deployed by Svitzer on the River Thames and the River Medway, improving the company’s operations in the busy Port of London.
As “Svitzer Estelle” is UK-based, the tug will be able to fall under Svitzer’s EcoTow net-zero carbon harbour towage solution, meaning that Svitzer deploys sustainable marine biofuel across its UK fleet to reduce the carbon impact of towage for its customers.
The first tug delivered by UZMAR Shipyards in May 2023, “Svitzer Elizabeth”, is currently in service in the Port of Liverpool, and the Svitzer partnership with UZMAR Shipyards began with the delivery of two tugs for the company’s fleet in Australia.
Shipbuilder UZMAR informs that the “Svitzer Estelle” has a bollard pull of 80 tonnes, and has an L.O.A. of 32 metres, with a beam of 13.2 metres and a depth of 5.5 metres.
The RAstar 3200W series tug has a 199 m3 fuel capacity and 40m 3 freshwater capacity, with Escort Tug and Firefighting1 notation.
The vessel is powered by two Caterpillar 3516E main engines rated at 2525 bkW at 1,800 rpm, with IMO III certified aftertreatment, and has two Kongsberg US255 Z-drives with 2.8m FP propellers.
Cliff Chow, Svitzer’s London port manager, said: “The delivery of the Svitzer Estelle marks a pivotal moment in the continued modernisation of our UK fleet, and will enable us to continue to meet our customers’ demands as well as ensure safe, reliable, and efficient operations.”
“The waters of the Thames and the Medway are dynamic and unique, so we need tugs that can meet and exceed their specific challenges. Just like “Svitzer Elizabeth”, we are confident that “Svitzer Estelle” will represent a significant advancement of our capabilities.”
A. Noyan Altuğ, chief executive of UZMAR Shipyards, noted: “Today marks not only the delivery of a new tug, but the continuation of our long-term partnership between UZMAR Shipyards and Svitzer. It builds on the success of our delivery of two tugs to Svitzer’s Australian fleet, as well as our ongoing work on Svitzer’s advanced TRAnsverse tug designs. We look forward to continuing our work with Svitzer to make the tugs of the future a reality.”
