The Robert Allan Ltd/Sanmar Shipyards collaboration is on a roll with numerous tugs of all shapes, sizes, performance and roles being exported, seemingly, all over the world.
For a change, this series of six "compact tugs" will remain in Sanmar's homeland, Turkey. However, the all-steel harbour and coastal tugs will operate at different ends of the country, some in the Sea of Marmara in the north and others in the southern Port of Antalya on the Mediterranean Sea.
While small, these look to be well-built and well-finished. They certainly have plenty of power and capability for 19.3-metre LOA boats. Bollard pull is 33 tonnes and speed is 12 knots. There is, as with all Robert Allan designs, a certain rugged elegance about them which is enhanced by the high quality building job that Sanmar has done.
"Although this tug series was already known for being highly capable workhorses," Sanmar told Baird Maritime, "we knew that a new design was needed to cope with modern requirements. So, 25 years after the initial design was received from RAL and after many modifications, we decided it was time for these vessels to evolve."
Sanmar clarified that the evolution was "quite modest," being limited mostly to improvements in accommodation spaces as well as spaces for the engines and the deck equipment.
"One of the major advantages of the new version is having a comfortably spacious below deck area with an additional two separate crew cabins. Also, an enlarged shipping hatch was also incorporated into the design to facilitate easier reinstallation of machinery and even the main engines as required.
"Overall, the tug is ready for additional main deck equipment installations as per the client's requirements."
The builder knows there are limits to improving on an already existing tug design, and so it is also studying the potential of incorporating alternative propulsion methods. This decision came following a growing number of inquiries about LNG-fuelled and hybrid-powered tugs from customers who recognise the impact of vessel emissions.
Sanmar considers the introduction of Yalova 3 and its sisters as one of its achievements in the past year, which was otherwise beset by Covid-19.
"The pandemic has impacted on all our lives," Sanmar told Baird Maritime. "It has brought heartbreak and loss for many and dramatically changed the way we all live our lives. Within our company, we have gone to great lengths to ensure that our work can continue, with the safety of our team as top priority."
Despite the pandemic, the Turkish builder managed to forge ahead in doing business, with the growing confidence of customers and bright prospects for the future serving as its biggest inspirations in staying afloat amid difficult and unusual times.
"We are always delighted whenever we hear from our existing customers that they wish to continue doing business with us. It shows that they have had good experiences with our tugs and our after-sale services. It is also, of course, gratifying to welcome new partners and start new long-term business relationships.
"We are also looking forward to another successful year in 2021, when hopefully the Covid-19 crisis will ease and we can get back to at least 'near normal.' These are exciting times for our industry, with rapid technological advances being achieved in the design, performance, and efficiency of tugs. At Sanmar, we are proud to be at the forefront of these advances."
When asked what prospects the global tug newbuilding industry has in store for it, Sanmar replied that valuable opportunities exist in the areas of improving the safety of crews and making sure that operations are more sustainable and will have very little adverse impact on the environment and nearby communities.
"We have embraced these goals as part of our own growth strategy," the company told Baird Maritime, "and so we have tailored our business accordingly and created a shared corporate culture emphasising innovation, health, safety, environmental stewardship, and employee welfare."
As part of the innovation objective, and in line with its "building for the future" vision, Sanmar has begun studying the potential of LNG and battery power as possible propulsion options in future newbuilding projects.
