Svitzer Sending Two More Tugs to the Suez Canal

A.P. Moller – Maersk’s towage operator Svitzer will send two additional tugs to the Suez Canal after extending its contract with the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).

Svitzer started operating in the Suez Canal in late 2019 with the two tugs Svitzer Port Said 1 and Svitzer Port Said 2, operating out of Port Said on the northern end of the Suez Canal. In March 2021, the two tugs were among more than a dozen that assisted in the refloating of the Ever Given.

In December 2021, the tugs were joined by sister vessels, Svitzer Suez 1 and Svitzer Suez 2, operating out of Port Suez on the southern Red Sea side. With this latest contract extension, Svitzer will now send two additional tugs to the Suez Canal, one on each end of the waterway.

The 75 tonnes bollard pull tugs are being built by Turkish tugboat builder Med Marine to Robert Allan’s RAstar 2800 design with firefighting capabilities and escort notation. Operations are expect to begin in May 2022.

With the addition, Svitzer will operate six vessels in the Suez Canal and employ 120 Egyptian seafarers.

As leading towage provider in the AMEA (Africa, Middle East & Asia) region, Svitzer operates a fleet of 110 vessels in seven ports and 11 terminals across 12 countries in the region.

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