Svitzer orders four 80 tonne bollard pull tugs from India’s SDHI

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Svitzer has ordered four 32 metre TRAnsverse 3200 tugs from Swan Defence and Heavy Industries Limited (SDHI), expanding its new generation tug programme while placing its first shipbuilding contract with the Indian yard.

The vessels will be built at SDHI’s Pipavav shipyard in Gujarat, with deliveries of the first units scheduled from the first quarter of 2028. The order brings Svitzer’s current TRAnsverse newbuilding programme to 18 vessels globally, excluding options.

The contract also increases Svitzer’s exposure to Indian shipbuilding as the country seeks to expand domestic maritime manufacturing under Maritime India Vision 2030, Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives.

The TRAnsverse 3200 vessels will have a length overall of 32 metres and a beam of 13.1 metres. They are designed to deliver more than 80 tonnes of bollard pull and will be biofuel ready, IMO Tier III compliant and prepared for Firefighting Class 1, or FiFi1, operations.

The design is intended for harbour towage and escort operations where manoeuvrability and steering forces can directly affect vessel handling and terminal efficiency.

At eight knots, the TRAnsverse 3200 is specified to generate 102 tonnes of indirect steering force and 145 tonnes of braking force. At 10 knots, those figures rise to 124 tonnes and 186 tonnes respectively.

Kasper Friis Nilaus, CEO of Svitzer, said the expanding TRAnsverse fleet was designed to reduce operational constraints while improving port productivity, sustainability and safety margins.

“The contract also reflects our continued investment in the Indian maritime sector,” Nilaus said, linking the order to India’s wider maritime and industrial development programmes.

For SDHI, the agreement represents its fourth consecutive export contract and gives the Pipavav facility experience constructing a specialised, high specification towage design.

Rear Admiral Vipin Kumar Saxena, CEO of SDHI, said Svitzer’s evaluation process demonstrated the yard’s engineering capabilities in specialised vessel construction and reflected growing international confidence in Indian shipbuilding.

Svitzer already has a connection with Gujarat through harbour towage operations in the region. The latest contract extends that presence from vessel operations into shipbuilding procurement.

The company said two TRAnsverse 3200 vessels have been operating commercially for more than 12 months at the Port of Newcastle in Australia. The wider TRAnsverse design has now completed more than 3,000 commercial towage jobs.

Svitzer currently has electric and biofuel ready TRAnsverse vessels under construction in 26 metre, 29 metre and 32 metre variants.

The design uses a distinctive hull, staple configuration and inline propulsion arrangement. According to Svitzer, this allows the tug to generate high direct and indirect steering forces at speed and operate in different positions around the vessel being assisted.

The four Indian built vessels will begin joining the fleet from 2028 as Svitzer continues its wider fleet renewal programme.