The number of tugs available for sale worldwide has dropped 31% in the past five years
Falling demand for tugboats on the secondhand market has led to a slump in the number of tugs for sale. Newbuild numbers are steady, although there is less appetite for purchasing tugboats from other owners.
According to specialist brokers Marcon International, of the 5,200 tugboats it tracks worldwide, 409 were for sale May 2022. This is the lowest number for at least a decade and is down 66 tugs, or 14%, from the same time in 2021, and down 184 vessels (31%) from May 2017.
The considerable drop in tug availability is down to factors including owners employing existing tugs, scrapping elderly vessels, the demand for more powerful and efficient tugs, the cost of reactivating laid-up vessels and difficulties in obtaining engine spare parts.
“Operating tugs and barges are in short supply both in the US and international market,” says Marcon in a report. “Across the age spectrum, the lack of inventory on the secondhand market is our biggest challenge as brokers.”
Changing market forces and trends are influencing owners’ purchasing decisions, with more buyers focusing on fuel efficiency and operating assets.
“Gone are the days of buying or chartering a 6,000-bhp tug to do a job a 4,000-bhp tug can do,” says Marcon. “The rise in diesel prices has refocused buyers on creating greater demand for lower bhp right-sized tugs.”
Inflation has driven up prices to maintain and reactivate tugs and pushed the price of vessels with current certificates higher. “We have also seen several examples of engine and other part shortages, pushing some buyers away from taking on laid-up vessels,” says Marcon.
There is a shortage of oceangoing and offshore tugs available for sale as offshore renewable projects have provided employment opportunities for under-utilised tugs.
Of the 409 tugs available for sale, 106 tugs are in the US, down from 125 vessels in May 2021, but 26% of the total. There were 71 tugs available in southeast Asia (17%), down from 118 tugs the year before.
There is also a significant drop in the Mediterranean, with just 33 tugs available for sale (8%) compared with 74 in May 2021. Far fewer tugs are available in the Middle East, just 15 (4%) compared with 59 at the same time in 2021. Whereas the sales and purchase market in Europe is holding up with 53 tugs available (13%) compared with 64 in May 2021. There were similar numbers of available tugs in the Far East to Europe.
Worldwide, 258 conventional twin-screw tugs are for sale, representing 63% of the total, while there are 90 tugs with azimuth thrusters (22%), 43 single-screw tugs, 13 with Voith Schneider tractors and five triple-screw tugs.
Marcon says there have been a steady number of conventional twin-screw tugs and azimuth-drive tugs for sale in the past five years, but other types have dropped.
“Available for sale units have dropped considerably, with many of those being scrapped due to age and condition,” says Marcon.
According to Sea-Web, around 2,134 tugs worldwide have been scuttled, broken up or were scheduled to be broken up worldwide in May 2022. This was up 34% from 1,588 scrapped in May 2021.
Where machinery is known, 109 tugs for sale have Caterpillar diesel engines, 63 vessels have EMDs, 46 Cummins, 40 Niigata, 36 Yanmar and 9 each have engines manufactured by Daihatsu, Deutz, Mitsubishi and Ruston. 73 tugs are powered by other machinery.
