The final piece of the tug fleet regeneration programme for Sohar Port has reached its finale with the technical delivery of the third powerful 80t bollard pull RAstar 2900SX variant, Sanmar’s Bigacay class, to Svitzer. She will be named Svitzer Saham and will join her two sisters (Svitzer Sohar and Svitzer Shinas) alongside two other earlier deliveries in 2020 of the 50t bollard pull variant of the RAmparts 2200 (named Svitzer Liwa and Svitzer Barka), Sanmar’s Sirapinar class, to the same client.

The arrival of this tug to the Port of Sohar will conclude the current fleet development aims of the operator, Svitzer and Port of Sohar; agreed as part of the 15 year renewal of the formers marine services contract, awarded in early 2019. These five tugs will together deliver a mighty 340 tonnes of total bollard pull across the new fleet; providing the port with the confidence and assurance to handle the ever increasing safe towing demands of modern shipping well into the future. Mobilisation to the Port of Sohar from Turkey will commence imminently under the direction of a Sanmar delivery crew.

The Bigacay class deliver a whole new level of tug power and performance to the port. Gary Dockerty, Sales Director Middle East and Africa stressed “The Bigaçay series was developed with our design partners Robert Allan Ltd. (RAL) for Sanmar exclusively and is a variant of the RAstar range described as RAstar 2900SX; compact tugs aimed at ensuring efficient construction while still meeting the customisation requirements of discerning clients”. The design has a sponsoned hull form, which is proven to provide significantly enhanced escort towing and seakeeping performance.

Complimented by the Sirapinar series and best summed up earlier this year by Jacob Bac, Deputy Harbour Master at the Port of Sohar when commenting “The Svitzer Liwa and Svitzer Barka bring a whole new level of towage to Sohar Port. With their sharp handling and manoeuvrability along with their instant power and good looks, they certainly are a force to be reckoned with. We look forward to welcoming the Bigacay class tugs to Sohar in the near future”.

Svitzer has previously placed orders with Sanmar Shipyards in recent years for 25 tugs in total, 23 ASDs and 2 ATDs, employed in the fulfilment of various towage contracts. Sanmar Shipyards was chosen for their outstanding safety performance, construction quality, swift delivery time and competitive price.