Svitzer saves: Company claims TRAnsverse tugs transcend

TOWAGE giant Svitzer is touting the TRAnsverse tug design, co-developed with Canada’s Robert Allen, as a time-saver for port and terminal operators thanks to its power and flexibility.

The Danish company has released a white paper it says provides insights based on simulation studies, sea trials and more than 5,000 commercial towage jobs now completed by the tug class in the Netherlands and Australia.

In one example, the white paper explores how the TRAnsverse tug offers faster, more predictable shipping movements – factors essential to protecting berth and port call productivity, Svitzer says. Using AIS data as a baseline, the white paper shows a TRAnsverse tug could save between five and 14 minutes for a single vessel arrival segment at a large Mediterranean container port (modelled study). 

The TRAnsverse design includes a double-ended hull, inline fore-and-aft thrusters and a patented half-circle staple. Together, these features support highly responsive control and the generation of usable hydrodynamic force in applications not possible with other tugs, the developers claim.

Svitzer currently has 24 TRAnsverse tugs under build in 26-metre, 29-metre and 32-metre variants – in both electric and conventional diesel (biofuel-ready) propulsion options – with a number earmarked for Australia, including for the yet-to-be-officially confirmed Gladstone towage contract.

Fourteen of the tugs are at various stages of delivery/construction by Hong Kong-based Cheoy Lee Shipyards, where the yard list shows seven registered to Svitzer Australia.

“It’s not an easy task for ports today facing maritime gridlock while also trying to build resilience for the future. The good news is our TRAnsverse tug offers a new tool to ease some of these pressures by getting more out of existing infrastructure,” Svitzer CEO Kasper Friis Nilaus said.

Recent industry data highlights the scale of the challenge. Global container port congestion reached a record 4.31 million TEU waiting to berth in August 2026, surpassing the previous pandemic-era peak. Around 12.6% of the global container fleet was waiting for a berth during the period, Svitzer observes.

At the same time, schedule reliability remains under pressure. In August 2026, fewer than half of container vessels globally arrived on time, while late vessels arrived  an average of 6.81 days behind schedule. These disruptions create increasingly compressed and unpredictable arrival and departure windows.

Climate and weather pose additional challenges, with nearly 90% of the world's major ports exposed to damaging climate hazards. The forecast ‘super’ El Niño weather event will only intensify these hazards on global trade routes into early 2027. Weather, wind and climate, combined with larger and more varied vessel types, will demand more of marine assets in ports and corresponding risk mitigations.

The white paper shows how two TRAnsverse tugs provide the optimal balance of power and precision for both harbour and escort towage requirements at the port of Newcastle.

The 32-metre tugs, Svitzer Nobbys and Svitzer Barrington, have recorded 124 tonnes of escort steering force and 186 tonnes of escort braking force at 10 knots in operations. This consistent force at speed is essential when managing larger, more complex vessel designs that have deeper drafts or are more wind-exposed. Importantly, the port loses no harbour towage capability and the TRAnsverse tug is still able to provide delicate vessel handling capability that larger escort tugs cannot, Svitzer claims.

“Trade flowing as smoothly and reliably as possible through our maritime supply chains is good for communities, economies and the world,” Mr Friis Nilaus said.

“The final connection between sea and shore that towage provides is essential to keeping this link strong and the TRAnsverse tug is demonstrating a modern solution to today’s challenges by unlocking more value from every vessel movement.”