The Port of Luleå,(Luleå Hamn) in northern Sweden has signed a contract for the purchase of a new ice-breaking tug with Damen Shipyards that is expected to be in operation in Q1 2025
“The reinforcement means that we can more efficiently assist our customers with tugboat assistance, and that we can meet the industry’s future needs,” says Port of Luleå, CEO Anders Dahl.
The Port of Luleå, currently has three ice-breaking tug that assist ships in and out of the harbour, as well as being responsible for harbour ice breaking. In addition, the Port of Luleå carries out harbor icebreaking in Kalix and Piteå, which means that two tugboats are stationed during the winter. The fact that the trio is now supplemented with a boat means that the service towards customers is increasing.
“We can more efficiently assist our customers with assistance and become less vulnerable in the event of breakdowns. The fact that the journeys between the towns are reduced also saves time, money and the environment. In the next few years, we will see an increase in ship traffic, which we already need to address,” says Anders Dahl.
The implementation of the Ore Port project in the coming years will also be facilitated, as ship traffic needs to be managed in parallel with the ongoing dredging.
“The new tug has a so-called azimuth stern drive, ASD, which means that the propellers can rotate 360 degrees independently of each other. This gives it a very good manoeuvrability and means that it has just as strong forward and backward traction,” says Markus Andersson, operations manager at Port of Luleå.
“Our tugboat Vilja also has this technology, which makes the work go faster, while increasing safety for both the vessels we assist and our own crews. What is unique to all our tugboats is that they are built for harbor breaking in our tough ice conditions.”
The preparatory work for investing in a new ice-breaking tug and procurement has been going on for a long time. This week, the port signed the purchase contract with the shipyard Damen Shipyards Group, a global operating company based in the Netherlands with more than 50 shipyards and related companies. The contract is worth EUR 16 million. The next step is for the boat to be painted to match its siblings and then the Swedish Transport Agency needs to approve the Swedish flagging of the ship.
“This means that they check that it complies with Swedish and international regulations that apply to all ships over 500 gross tons. Then the journey to Luleå can begin and we expect her to be in place and in operation during the first quarter of 2025,” says Markus Andersson.
Luleå Harbour’s existing tugboats are named Valkyria, Viscaria and Vilja. The Port Authority has decided that the new boat will be named Victoria. It will be the port’s third tug named Victoria, but the historical connections go back further than that. Already at the end of the 19th century, the tugboat steamer “Gamla Vickan” operated in Luleå. The new tug will be named during a ceremony later this year.
Victoria is 33.45 meters long, 12.53 meters wide. It has 10,000 horsepower and a pulling power of 72 tons. It can be compared with the port’s other tugboats, where Vilja has an equivalent pulling power, Viscaria at 62 tonnes and Valkyria at 35.
