Boluda Advances Consolidation Buying UK’s Largest Independent Tug Company
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Continuing its efforts to consolidate the towing business and broaden its global network, Spain’s Boluda Towage has signed an agreement to acquire the British company SMS Towage Ltd. The 32-year-old company reports it is the UK’s largest independent towage company, providing comprehensive harbor towage, offshore towage renewable energy support, and other specialist shipping project work.
Boluda already reported that it was the leader in towage after last year’s acquisition of Smit Lamnalco from joint venture partners Boskalis Group and Rezayat Group. Smit Lamnalco added 111 vessels to the company, which reported it would have a fleet of 600 tugboats and an intervention capacity in 50 countries and 148 ports around the world.
The addition of SMS will strengthen the position of Boluda Towage, already operating in the ports of Invergordon (Cromarty Firth), London, Liverpool, and Southampton. SMS, which has been in towing since 2002, today operates 20 tugs in the UK ports/regions of, Tyne, Tees, Humber, Portsmouth, South Wales, and Belfast. The company added its newest tug in November 2023 with the Tradesman, a 52-bollard-ton pull vessel built in Turkey in 2023.
“The decision for us to accept the opportunity to sell SMS Towage to Boluda Towage came at just the right time, as we embark on a new chapter of business growth and development,” said SMS Towage owner and Founder Paul Escreet.
After the official closing of the transaction, SMS will be part of Boluda Towage’s organization in the United Kingdom, and will be branded Boluda Towage SMS. The local management team of Boluda Towage SMS will report to Philip Dulson, General Manager of Boluda Towage in the UK.
It is the third acquisition by Boluda in less than two years. In addition to Smit Lamnalco, they also acquired Resolve Salvage and Fire (Gibraltar) in February this year. Previously they also acquired Caledonian Towage (Scotland) and Iskes Towage & Salvage in 2021, Kotug Smit Towage in 2019, and German towage companies Unterweder Reederei and Lutgens & Reimers in 2017.
Boluda started its port tug activities in Valencia, Spain in 1920. It reports that the acquisitions are continuing to strengthen its position and global network.
Damen and Saverys to Build Four Large Hydrogen Dual-Fuel Tugs
Shipbuilder Damen and CMB.TECH are partnering to build some of the first hydrogen-powered tugboats. The project expands Damen’s repertoire after the company added an electric tug also in the ASD class and in keeping with the Saverys' declared strategy to lead the industry to decarbonization alternatives.
The collaboration calls for four tugs built by Damen and using CMB.TECH’s dual-fuel hydrogen technology. It is also the latest step in the companies’ collaboration as CMB.TECH is also working with Damen for the construction of Commissioning Service Operations Vessels that employ the dual-fuel hydrogen generator sets and will be operated for the Saverys’ offshore company Windcat. The company previously introduced the first hydrogen-fueled crew transfer vessel.
“This contract marks another very important step in the development of our hydrogen-powered vessel portfolio,” said Alexander Saverys, CEO of CMB.TECH. “ASD tugs are ideal assets to start the decarbonization of port operations. With our hydrogen tugs, every port in the world will now be able to lower its carbon emissions and create demand for green hydrogen production.”
Alexander Saverys has outlined a vision for the decarbonization of shipping. The family looks for hydrogen to be used on near-shore operations such as tugs, offshore vessels, and transfer crafts. They are developing ammonia-based systems for their ocean-going ships.
Concurrent with the signing of the order with Damen, the companies reported that Lloyds’ Register also awarded an approval in principle (AiP) for the hydrogen solution that will be installed on the tugs. According to LR, the system represents a cost-effective decarbonization solution for tugs.
The dual-fuel hydrogen ASD Tugs 2812 FF-H2 will have 80-tonnes bollard pull, and feature four highspeed dual-fuel hydrogen engines, designed to minimize NOx and CO2 emissions. They will be able to run on traditional fuel if required. They will have modular storage systems for compressed hydrogen, with each tug carrying up to 16 hydrogen bottles, storing a total of 736kg of pressurized hydrogen at 350 bar.
Full details were not provided on the plans, but other ASD tugs are approximately 380 tons and 90 feet (28 meters) in length. They can carry up to 10 crew and operate on traditional fuel at speeds up to 12 knots. The electric version of the class is slightly smaller with a 10-knot speed.
The Port of Antwerp-Bruges pioneered the world’s first hydrogen dual-fuel tug introduced at the end of 2023. Known as Hydrotug 1, it was built in Spain also using technology from CMB.TECH.
Hydrotug 1 has a smaller hydrogen storage capacity but was reported to have capabilities for 24 hours of operation. The new design increases the hydrogen storage capacity by 75 percent as CMB.TECH looks to move hydrogen into the mainstream of operations.
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