New tugs have been delivered to operators in the US and Chile while a German towage specialist has placed orders for both harbour- and offshore-optimised platforms. Another US operator is meanwhile seeking to expand its inland fleet.
The Fairplay Towage Group has placed orders for four harbour tugs and two offshore tugs.
The newbuilds have been ordered by Fairplay Germany and Fairplay Polska and will be constructed to designs by Canadian naval architecture firm Robert Allan Ltd (RAL).
Fairplay said the programme forms part of its fleet modernisation and expansion.
Delivery of the first harbour tug is planned for the middle of 2027, with the other three expected by the end of that year. The two offshore tugs are due to enter service during the first half of 2028.
Sulphur, Louisiana-based marine services company the Southern Devall Group has taken delivery of a new 2,600hp (1,900kW) inland pusher tug built by C&C Marine and Repair.
The builder said the 87- by 33.75-foot (27- by 10.29-metre) Capt Pete Ciaramitaro was handed over two months after the contract was signed on July 20. Deliveries of five other tugs from the same series are scheduled to begin this November and continue at approximately two-month intervals.
The new tug utilises the same basic design as that of an earlier vessel built by C&C Marine for Canal Barge Company based in New Orleans.
Saam Towage formally named the 80-tonne bollard pull tug Saam Petrel in Arica, Chile, on Tuesday, September 29.
The company said the vessel is the first tug in its Chilean fleet to meet IMO Tier III NOx emissions standards.
The tug will support ship berthing and unberthing in the region.
Designed by Robert Allan Ltd, Saam Petrel measures 24.4 metres long and 12 metres wide and can reach a maximum speed of 13 knots.
Great Lakes Towing has placed an order for two harbour tugs with its sister company, Great Lakes Shipyard in Cleveland, extending its newbuild series to 12 vessels.
Great Lakes Towing said deliveries are scheduled for late 2027 and early 2028. The vessels will be hulls 11 and 12 of its ice-capable tug series.
The 19.5-metre tugs will each have a beam of 7.3 meters. They are designed for harbour work in the Great Lakes’ narrow waterways and winter conditions.
Each tug will be powered by two Cummins QSK38 1,000hp (750kW) Tier III engines. The vessels will have a top speed of 11 knots and 30 tons of bollard pull.
McAllister Towing and Transportation has taken delivery of the 6,770hp (5,050kW) tractor tug Mary McAllister, the sixth of seven vessels in a series built by Washburn and Doughty Associates.
The tug will begin work in Baltimore alongside sister vessel Isabel McAllister. She will later relocate to its planned homeport at Port Everglades, Florida.
The 293GT tug measures 93 feet (28 metres) long and 38 feet (12 metres) wide, with a loaded draught of 17 feet (5.2 metres). Her bollard pull is rated at 84 tonnes. Two US EPA Tier IV-compliant Caterpillar 3516E engines drive Schottel SRP 490 FP Z-drive units.
Mary McAllister is the first tug in the series with full firefighting capability.