Indian shipbuilder Swan Defence and Heavy Industries has secured a contract from Denmark-based towage operator Svitzer to build four 32-metre TRAnsverse 3200 tugs at Pipavav in Gujarat, according to Swan Defence and Heavy Industries.
The first vessels are due from the first quarter of 2028 under Svitzer’s first newbuilding contract with SDHI. The undisclosed order is classified as Category 2, placing its value between INR 2.51bn ($26.4m) and INR 7.5bn ($78.8m).
The Bureau Veritas-class tugs will be biofuel-ready, compliant with IMO Tier III requirements and prepared for FiFi1 notation. The design, jointly developed by Canadian naval architecture firm Robert Allan Ltd and Svitzer, has a beam of 13.1 metres, bollard pull of more than 80 tonnes and is intended for harbour towage and escort work.
The hydrodynamic hull and omni-directional propulsion could reduce fuel consumption by up to 15% against conventional tug designs.
“Our growing TRAnsverse tug fleet offers significant benefits to customers in terms of releasing operational constraints and improving port productivity, sustainability and safety margins,” Svitzer chief executive Kasper Friis Nilaus said.
Two TRAnsverse 3200 tugs have operated at the Port of Newcastle in Australia for more than 12 months, while the design completed more than 3,000 commercial towage jobs during 2026. The latest order raises Svitzer’s TRAnsverse newbuilding tally to 18, excluding options, across 26-metre, 29-metre and 32-metre electric and biofuel-ready variants.
Rear Admiral Vipin Kumar Saxena IN (retd.), chief executive of SDHI, said: “Svitzer’s rigorous evaluation process reaffirms the strength of our engineering capabilities in the niche, high-specification vessel segment.”
The contract is SDHI’s fourth consecutive export order. SDHI shares rose as much as 1.82%, trading 1.51% higher at INR 2,590 ($27.20) at 9:26am IST. Formerly Reliance Naval and Engineering, SDHI is a step-down subsidiary of Indian industrial group Swan Corp. Its Pipavav complex covers more than 600 acres and includes a 662-metre by 65-metre dry dock.
Copenhagen-based Svitzer was founded in Denmark in 1833 and operates more than 500 vessels.
