Svitzer is charging ahead with its sustainability drive, reducing its emissions through the use of alternative fuels, building more efficient tugboats and introducing electrificatio
This Danish tug owner, which is an affiliate of AP Moller Holding, has taken delivery of its first battery-electric tug, Svitzer Ingrid, and its first three diesel-fuelled tugboats of its new TRAnsverse design.
It is also looking forward to operating the world’s first methanol-electric tugboat and a second battery-powered tug in 2026 and ordering a series of battery-driven vessels from a shipyard in the near future.
Svitzer chief operating officer Kasper Karlsen said all these initiatives are part of the company’s decarbonisation journey, which started in 2021 and also includes using digital tools to save fuel during vessel mobilisation and demobilisation.
This sustainability strategy also includes the wide use of hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) fuels across the UK fleet and fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) on tugs in Oman, the Netherlands and Brazil.
“In the longer term, to reach our target, drop-in fuels will play an important role as assets in the fleet surpass the target deadline and we need to continue operating them,” said Mr Karlsen.
“With newbuilds, however, we have opportunities to work with equipment vendors. We have extensively looked at future fuels, such as hydrogen, ammonia and methanol,” he told Riviera. “We found methanol is the most applicable for handling and energy density. “We are in dialog with engine manufacturers to work out how methanol would work and there will be an electric-hybrid methanol tug delivered in 2026.”
This tugboat is scheduled to enter service in Gothenburg, Sweden, in Q2 2026 to provide near-zero emissions when towing, manoeuvring and docking ships, such as Maersk Line’s methanol-fuelled container carriers.
While marine diesel, biofuels and alternative fuels will be critical for global towage for several decades, Svitzer sees a future for onboard energy storage systems and charging infrastructure in ports.
“Electric is part of the end-game for some locations where infrastructure is installed,” said Mr Karlsen. “Technology advances make it more viable to go straight to electrification.” Shipyards are building electric tugs at scale and in series and a few ports are investing in charging stations for harbour vessels.
“We need to start to operate these electric tugs as we need operating experience,” he explained. “It is fast-pace on the learning curve. Manoeuvring is different as they are more nimble and better for acceleration.
There are less maintenance and different qualifications for chief engineers [are needed], going from diesel to electrical systems.”
The owner’s first electric-hybrid tug Svitzer Ingrid was built by Sanmar Shipyards to Robert Allan Ltd’s ElectRA 2500SX design, with a 13-m beam and a draught of 5 m. It has a battery capacity of 1,808 kWh from Corvus Energy, backed up by generators to drive two Schottel azimuth thrusters, to achieve a bollard pull of 70 tonnes.
“Electric is part of the end-game for some locations where infrastructure is installed”
Svitzer Ingrid was officially named in a ceremony in the Port of Copenhagen before it started operations in the Sound between Denmark and Sweden. Its battery-electric propulsion reduces exhaust emissions and noise levels for crew, and underwater sound during operations.
Svitzer expects this 25-m tugboat to complete around 90% of its operational tasks using electric power sourced from batteries charged using the renewable energy supply at the Port of Helsingborg.
During a year’s operation, it should cut annual CO2 emissions by 600-900 tonnes compared with existing tugs operating in the Sound. Success during sea trials of this vessel has led Svitzer to continue with its drive to own battery electric tugs.
“We have another being delivered in 2026 and we are in the market for four TRansverse 26-m electric tugs with options for four more,” said Mr Karlsen. “We are at a stage now where we are getting quotes from shipyards as part of our procurement process.”
