Delivery of Svitzer Avon to the Port of Bristol in the UK signals the completion of Sanmar’s six-boat build contract as part of Svitzer’s tugboat replenishment programme known as the Silver Bullet Project. The successful conclusion of this order brings the collaboration between Turkey’s leading tug builder and Canadian tug design specialists, Robert Allan Limited (RAL), to a record level of well in excess of 150 vessels.
All six high-performance tugboats are RAL designed RAstar 2800 E designs designated by the builder as the Sanmar Terminal Class measuring 28.2m x 12.6m. Each has a bollard pull in excess of 70 tonnes derived from a propulsion plant comprising a pair of MTU 16V4000 M63 diesel engines, each rated 2000 kW at 1800 rpm, and each driving a Schottel SRP 460 fixed pitch Rudderpropeller unit in ASD configuration. However, a number of modifications to the standard class were incorporated to meet this customer’s operational needs and other preferences and have been ABS classed with Towing Vessel and FIFI1 notations.
At the time the original contract was placed, Svitzer remarked that Sanmar was selected due to its outstanding safety performance and construction quality, together with a competitive price.
As the final boat of the sextet left the custom-built Turkish shipyard, Sanmar managing director, Cem Seven, commented that his company enjoyed working with discerning customers such as Svitzer.
“Furthermore we are continuing this successfull relationship with an additional order in build for four slightly larger, more powerful ASDs for a Svitzer operation in Morocco.” This contract will bring the total number of tugs delivered by Sanmar to this customer to a total of 19.
Source: Sanmar