Martyn Wingrove writes for Riviera about SAAM Towage: ITS Tug Owner of the Year.
Chilean tug owner
A leader in providing towage services in Latin America and western Canada, it is looking forward to receiving newbuilds from Sanmar Shipyards with fully electric propulsion. The group plans to focus on towage once its terminals division is sold to Hapag Lloyd.
SAAM Towage engineering and development director Pablo E Caceres and SAAM Towage fleet and supply chain director Alentue Pompei received the ITS award during the gala dinner at TUGTECHNOLOGY ’23, in Rotterdam. In a subsequent video interview, Mr Caceres acknowledged the importance of investing in sustainable operations that reduce the environmental impact of towage for its clients.
“This award is in recognition of our major efforts towards the sustainability goals we have today,” said Mr Caceres. It also recognised SAAM Towage’s drive “towards emissions cutting and emissions control we are developing throughout the fleet. We will continue working in this direction.”
SAAM Towage provides services at more than 90 ports in 14 countries in the Americas, employing over 8,000 people and completing more than 140,000 manoeuvres for 40,000 vessels each year.
Mr Caceres said the group is focused on growing the towage business and committed to improving services for its clients “not only in the Americas” as the company seeks to expand into international markets.
“We have to listen to our clients,” he said. “We are here to solve their problems. We are here to walk the path of sustainability together with them. And we are sharing their challenges and working with them to find solutions in terms of sustainability and emissions control.”
One of the ways SAAM Towage is growing the fleet and meeting clients’ environmental expectations is introducing battery-powered tugs to its operations in British Columbia, Canada.
Sanmar Shipyards is building two emissions-free tugboats to Robert Allan Ltd’s ElectRA 2300SX design and Bureau Veritas class for western Canadian towage. Both tugs have Corvus Energy batteries of a combined 3,616 kWh power capacity and a bollard pull of 70 tonnes.
Mr Caceres said both tugs will begin operations in British Columbia Q1 2024. “The first is already afloat, and we plan to start to sea trials in July,” he said.
“We will receive the second tug in October, then transfer them to Vancouver. We expect them to be ready at the end of this year or early Q1 2024 at their home port.”
He plans to order more electric-powered tugboats for different ports in the Americas. “Our clients need these types of solutions, and we are certainly continuing along the path of building sustainable tugboats.”
Quibian joined SAAM’s fleet
Quibian joined SAAM’s fleet in the port of Colon, Panama after construction by Sanmar Shipyards.
It plans to focus on towage and purchased 21 tugs from the Brazilian company Starnav Servicos Maritimos in early May. This deal, valued at US$198M, includes 19 vessels currently in operation and two tugs being built at the Detroit Brazil shipyard.
In Central America, Bureau Veritas measured and certified that GHG emissions from SAAM Towage’s operations in Honduras were fully offset by its green investments in 2022.
“We are committed to sustainability,” said SAAM Towage local country manager Joao Paulo Marins. “Implementing active emissions reduction measures in our operations is part of our value proposition to our customers, employees and the communities where we are located.”
The company offset its emissions in projects in the nation to improve the environment, national society and energy security. “In Honduras, we wanted to go a step further and take our emissions to zero, mitigating our footprint with carbon credits backed by the best institutions, from reforestation and clean energy projects,” explained Mr Marins.
SAAM Towage operates four tugs
SAAM Towage operates four tugs in the main Honduran ports, on both the Caribbean side (in Puerto Cortes, Tela and Omoa) and in San Lorenzo on the Pacific side. Puerto Cortes is the largest port in Honduras and an important hub on the Caribbean coast in Central America, with a container terminal and another for inorganic bulk cargo.
SAAM Towage achieved similar carbon-neutral operations in Colombia in 2022, backed by Bureau Veritas certification. The class society measured and verified all direct and indirect emissions from energy consumption, transport, products and services used by the organisation in the country in 2022.
SAAM Towage emitted 14,618 tonnes of CO2 in Colombia, which was fully offset through clean energy projects, validated by the United Nations and organisation Biocarbon, along with the communities where the company operates. Its GHG emissions have been falling year-on-year due to the improved efficiency of vessel operations and crew training.
It operates 15 vessels in eight ports and at offshore energy projects in Colombia from its office in Cartagena. SAAM Towage employs more than 200 people and provides safe towage for container ships, cruise lines and ships carrying dry and liquid bulk cargo. It also supports shipping at crude oil, LNG, refined products and coal terminals.
In Colombia, SAAM Towage operates a fleet of azimuth stern drive (ASD) tugs, anchor handlers and other offshore support vessels, providing emergency response, salvage, ocean towage, anchor handling, platform supply and offshore support to exploration and production activities.
In Chile, SAAM Towage has measured, verified and certified its GHG emissions for five years as part of the Ministry of the Environment’s Huella Chile programme. “Our commitment is to continually seek alternatives that allow us to reduce the carbon footprint of our operations,” said SAAM Towage country manager for Chile, Cristián Cifuentes. “Measuring our environmental footprint enables us to assess our progress and set new goals for the coming years.”
SAAM Towage was recognised for the fifth consecutive year for its drive to reduce emissions in Chile, where it operates 21 tugs in 14 ports, providing berthing, undocking and towage services to ships. The company continues to work on cutting fuel consumption by making its tugs more efficient for navigation and supplying energy to vessels from shore power when they are docked.
Verification of SAAM Towage’s emissions was backed by Bureau Veritas, which reviewed the annual emissions of these tugs and in SAAM’s administrative offices at the Tecnopacífico building in Valparaíso.
In Uruguay, SAAM Towage bolstered the fleet by transferring 2017-built Portobelo from Panama to meet rising demand for ship handling. This ASD vessel became the company’s 12th tugboat in Uruguay when it arrived in Montevideo in February. And tug Quibian was added to its fleet in the port of Colon, Panama on the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal after purchasing the newbuilding from Sanmar Shipyards in October 2022.
In Q3 2022, SAAM Towage named an escort tug and another harbour vessel in ceremonies in two Chilean ports. It has expanded its Chilean fleet by adding the two harbour tugs, built by Sanmar Shipyards to Robert Allan Ltd designs.
Mataquito II and Halcón III were named at ceremonies attended by naval authorities, pilots, shipowners and executives in Valparaíso and San Vicente in September 2022, following their delivery in Q2 and Q3. Halcon III is a Bogacay-series compact tug, built to a RAmparts 2400SX design, with 4,200-kW of propulsion power and an overall length of 24 m. Mataquito II is a Bigacay-class, escort and fire-fighting tugboat of RAstar 2900SX design with twin azimuth Z-drives on the stern, providing around 82 tonnes of bollard pull.
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Source: Riviera
