VESSEL REVIEW | Ocean Alliance & Ocean Mystique – India's Ocean Sparkle welcomes locally built ASD harbour tugs into service
India's Udupi Cochin Shipyard (Udupi CSL) has placed the first two tugs of an 11-vessel programme for local customer Ocean Sparkle (OSL), a company under the Adani Group, into service on India's coasts.
Ocean Alliance, delivered on December 11, 2025, is working at VO Chidambaranar Port in Tuticorin under a seven-year hire, while sister Ocean Mystique, built in 2026, was recorded at New Mangalore on September 19 following a week alongside at Malpe.
The two vessels measure 33 metres (110 feet) in length and are harbour tugs propelled by azimuth stern drives. They were designed by Canadian naval architeture firm Robert Allan Ltd (RAL) and built in accordance with India's Approved Standard Tug Design and Specifications.
Udupi CSL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cochin Shipyard, contracted an initial batch of three 70-tonne bollard pull tugs in 2022 and announced a follow-on order for eight more in December 2024.
Proven diesel propulsion for heavy duty use
Ocean Alliance was launched in October 2025 and handed over 16 days ahead of its contractual date.
The tugs have lengths between perpendiculars of 31.25 metres (102.5 feet), moulded beams of 12.2 metres (40 feet), moulded depths of 5.52 metres (18.1 feet), and maximum draughts of 4.2 metres (14 feet). Gross and net tonnage are both recorded as 498, keeping the vessel below the 500GT threshold. Displacement is 913.39 tonnes, lightship weight 676.98 tonnes and deadweight is 236.
Propulsion on the 70-tonne series comes from two IHI Power Systems Niigata 6L28HX diesel engines, each rated at 1,838 kW (2,465 hp). Each engine drives an IHI azimuthing thruster fitted with a nozzle-housed propeller.
The Indian Register of Shipping record gives a speed of 12.5 knots and a fuel capacity of 175 tonnes. Electrical power is supplied by three 415V, 50Hz alternators: one rated at 69 kW and two at 166 kW.
Part of an existing series optimised for operation at Indian ports
The class notation for Ocean Alliance reads +SUL, TUG, INWATER SURVEY, INDIAN COASTAL VESSEL for the hull, with machinery notation + IY and AGNI 1 (2,400 cubic metres per hour). The AGNI 1 notation records the vessel's external firefighting capability of FiFi1 rated at 2,800 cubic metres (620,000 gallons) per hour.
Deck equipment listed by the shipyard comprises forward and aft towing winches and a three-tonne deck crane.
Ocean Alliance made its maiden call at VO Chidambaranar Port Authority on December 18, 2025, a week after delivery. The port hired the tug from OSL for seven years, taking its fleet to four vessels: one port-owned tug of 45 tonnes bollard pull, two hired tugs of 50 tonnes each and the new arrival.
UCSL's tug work for Ocean Sparkle forms part of a parallel programme for Polestar Maritime, for which the yard has delivered two 70-tonne ASD tugs to the same RAL design and Niigata machinery package, with a third under construction. The first Polestar vessel, Konna Star, entered service at Deendayal Port in Kandla.
