Svitzer Australia Welcomes New Tugs

Svitzer Australia has welcome two new vessels to its fleet in 2019, as two UZMAR-built RAstar 3200 series tugboats begin the journey from Turkey to their respective home ports.

A delivery ceremony was hosted by UZMAR on 12 March 2019 for the two tugboats, Svitzer Ruby and Svitzer Redhead.

The 85-tonne bollard pull tug, Svitzer Ruby, will join Port Kembla in May 2019, and the 80-tonne bollard pull tug, Svitzer Redhead, will join the team in Fremantle in late April 2019.

The vessels were designed by the reputable Canadian naval architecture firm Robert Allan Ltd.

The two escort towage capable vessels feature render recovery winches, FiFi1 class notation for firefighting, LNG operational protection package and a rear winch for over the stern towing operations.

Svitzer Australia Managing Director, Nicolaj Noes, says: “Nationally, we are always working closely with our stakeholders, and importantly, local port authorities to understand how we can best meet their requirements, now and into the future, with our national and diverse fleet of vessel types and capabilities.”

Svitzer Newton, warmly welcomed to Fremantle last year, will make the journey to the East Coast of Australia to join the Newcastle fleet and the existing complement of Damen 2412 tugs operating in the port.

“To that end, we have been working closely with our port stakeholders Fremantle Ports and Port Authority New South Wales to determine port operations requirements,” says Nicolaj.

“We look forward to welcoming Svitzer Ruby, Svitzer Redhead and Svitzer Newton to their respective ports.”

At the time of our announcement about the two new RAstar 3200 (Robert Allan design) escort tugs for our Australian fleet, Svitzer Redhead was destined for Newcastle, New South Wales. Named by our team in Newcastle,  Svitzer Redhead takes her name from Redhead, a coastal suburb of the City of Lake Macquarie. The name is derived from the reddish colour of the headland, especially when seen from the sea.

Working closely with our port stakeholders, Fremantle Ports, it was determined that one of the new vessels would be well suited to Fremantle’s requirements. While originally named for a local connection to Newcastle,  Svitzer Redhead will be welcomed warmly to Fremantle, reflecting the truly local – and national – nature of our business.

Svitzer Ruby is named after Ruby’s Mount Kembla, and by extension, Ruby Moore — a famous local resident and Post Mistress during the 1920s and 1930s. Nestled in the historic mining village of Kembla  Heights, Ruby’s Mount Kembla first traded in the late 1800s to a thriving community of coal miners and their families as the village store and Post Office. The store was subsequently named after Ruby Moore and has undergone much careful restoration. It is  now home to one of the most well-loved restaurants in the Illawarra.

With the new additions, Svitzer’s tug fleet will number more than 432 vessels in over 100 locations around the world, consolidating it as the global market leader within towage and emergency response.