Abu Dhabi Ports has announced the purchase of three new tug boats to join its fleets serving the Mussafah and Zayed Ports.

The master port developer, operator and manager, which manages port facilities in Abu Dhabi emirate, the Fujairah Terminals as well as the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD), ordered the boats during the Sea Trade Offshore Marine & Workboats Middle East 2017 (SOMWE) event in the UAE capital.

The annual three-day event brings together marine service providers, operators, manufacturers and suppliers from both the region and the world.

The new tug boats are equipped with the latest technologies and have a bollard pull power of 30 tonnes, said a statement from Abu Dhabi Ports, adding that the two companies that won the public tender, Damen and Sanmar, were announced at the Abu Dhabi Marine Services “SAFEEN” stand.

SAFEEN is a company wholly owned by Abu Dhabi Ports and provides a comprehensive range of marine services and ancillary quayside services for vessels calling at all facilities managed by Abu Dhabi Ports.

Commenting on the announcement, Abu Dhabi Ports CEO Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi said: “The past years have been challenging for the industry but we must look at the future with trust and optimism. Today’s announcement is the perfect reflection of our strategy for growth, which was built on continued investment in state-of-the art infrastructure, technology and skills development.”

Captain Maktoum Al Houqani, chief marine services officer at SAFEEN, added: “As part of our ambitious journey, in the past year we have made strong strides to expand our world leading service portfolio. We are entering a phase of expansion in our fleet capacity and capability to better cater to the growth of our ports and its customers. The new tug boats will support our ambition to be the preferred service provider at the centre of the maritime industry.”

Ruchan Civgin, commercial director of Sanmar Shipyards, said: “We are delighted to be honoured with this order for two further tug boats, following our first delivery of a similar unit to SAFEEN in 2016. We trust they will provide many years of reliability and service towards enhancing SAFEEN’s thriving reputation in their field and we look forward to supporting their vision and ambition for many years to come.”

Pascal Slingerland, sales manager, Middle East, at Damen Shipyards, added: “We are very proud to deliver another tug boat to SAFEEN. We enjoy an excellent relationship with them, due to our unique location here in the UAE. We wish SAFEEN the very best with their new tug boat and are very much looking forward to continuing our fruitful collaboration in the future.”