Svitzer Moves Its Tugs to Canadian Port of Montreal
Image Courtesy: MaerskDanish tug operator Svitzer Towage, part of the Maersk Group, has established a harbour towage service in Canada’s Port of Montreal providing shipdocking, escort and ice-breaking services.
The company’s two ice-class tugs, Svitzer Nerthus and Svitzer Njal, have been mobilized to the port, while a third tug is expected to arrive mid-April.
The 2009-built tugs were mobilized to Canada for Svitzer’s northern operation in Baffin Island after being deployed for five years in Scandinavia.
Svitzer said that it plans to move additional tugs during the next 12-18 months providing full-year service in the St. Lawrence River.
“Montreal represents a great opportunity for our continued expansion and we have experienced a strong demand from our local and global customer-base to provide services within the St. Lawrence River,” Martin Helweg, Managing Director of Svitzer Americas, said.
Operated by the Montreal Port Authority (MPA), the port saw a throughput of 1,402,393 TEUs in 2014, representing 12,575,069 tonnes of cargo.
The port also handled 9,246,741 tonnes of liquid bulk, and 8,433,434 tonnes of dry bulk, including 4,075,879 tonnes of grain.
The total volume of goods handled in 2014 amounted to 30,445,984 million tonnes.
In January, Svitzer signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Chinese Guangzhou Port Group to form a joint venture providing towage and related marine services for the port with three tugs ranging from 5200HP to 6800HP.
The company covers some 40 countries with a fleet of more than 400 vessels.
