SANMAR has held a keel-laying ceremony to mark the latest stage in the construction of the world’s first large purpose-built dual fuel methanol escort tugs it is building for Netherlands-headquartered international operator KOTUG.
KOTUG executives attended the event in Turkiye on May 8 and took part in the actual keel-laying process itself. KOTUG President & CEO Ard-Jan Kooren and Corporate Technical Manager Marcel van Meel, welded part of the keel during the ceremony. Also attending the ceremony were Zoë Kooren, KOTUG PR & Communication Assistant.
Cem Seven, Vice Chairman of SANMAR and Hasan Çakmak, SANMAR’s Shipyard Technical Director, presented electrodes to Ard-Jan Kooren and Marcel van Meel and SANMAR Corporate Strategy Director, Ipek Gürün, also presented a gift to Zoë Kooren.
KOTUG has partnered with Sc’ianew First Nation from Beecher Bay, which is strategically located along the shipping route from Vancouver, to provide the service, and the tugs being built at SANMAR’s state-of-the-art purpose-built shipyards in Turkiye will be called SD AISEMAHT and SD QWII-AAN’C SARAH in honour of the Sc’ianew First Nation.
Based on the RAsalvor 4400-DFM design from Canadian naval architects Robert Allan Ltd, the two revolutionary new tugs – the first SANMAR has built for KOTUG – will service Canada’s Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMEP), escorting tankers from the harbour limits of the Port of Vancouver to the open Pacific Ocean through the commercial shipping lanes of the Salish Sea.
Scheduled to enter service in 2025, SD AISEMAHT and SD QWII-AAN’C SARAH will be the most powerful escort tugs in Canada, capable of achieving a massive 120 tonnes of bollard pull, while also providing significant environmental benefits, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and underwater radiated noise – protecting the Salish Sea’s resident Killer Whales.
In the ceremony, Ali Gürün said: “We were delighted to have these honoured guests join us to mark reaching another milestone in this important project. Alternative fuels and propulsion systems are a major way ahead for our industry on its transformation journey to sustainable low and no emissions future. At SANMAR we are proud to be at the forefront of this change.”
Ard-Jan Kooren, President & CEO of KOTUG International: “We are thrilled to collaborate on this groundbreaking project that not only transforms the maritime sector but also plays a crucial role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting sustainability in the shipping industry.”
