SAAM Towage, the leading towage operator in the Americas, has expanded its fleet with the addition of two next-generation tugs, the SAAM Petrel and SAAM Charrán. Designed by Robert Allan Ltd. and constructed at Sanmar Shipyards in Turkey, these vessels reinforce SAAM’s commitment to safety, efficiency, and sustainability in port operations.
Their names—SAAM Petrel and SAAM Charrán—pay homage to seabirds native to the coasts of Chile and Peru, following a SAAM Towage tradition dating back 60 years to the company’s founding.
“This acquisition is a key part of SAAM Towage’s investment plan for this year, which seeks to continue optimizing our operational capacity and service offering to strengthen our presence in both countries,” said Chile-Peru Country Manager Cristián Cifuentes.
The SAAM Petrel is on its way to the Port of Arica in Chile. It boasts an IMO Tier III certified emission control system for the reduction of nitrous oxides (NOx), making it the first in the country’s fleet with these features. The SAAM Charrán will operate at the Port of Callao in Peru, where he already docked.
Both tugs, which are certified under the Fire Fighting 1 (FiFi 1) standard, will supply terminal services, providing crucial support for vessel berthing and deberthing maneuvers at their respective ports.
With these additions, the average age of the SAAM Towage fleet in both countries reaches 13 years with a bollard pull (BP) of 65 metric tons.
Measuring 24.4 long and 12 wide, each tug has bollard pull of 80 metric tons and a maximum speed of 13 knots. They are powered by 2,350 kW Caterpillar engines, each achieving 1800 rev/min.
With the Rampart 2500SX MKII design, they are highly manoeuvrable and versatile tugs, especially for assisting large vessels in space-restricted harbours.
