Page 29: of Marine News Magazine (November 2026)

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2026 Innovation requirements. Domestic sourcing of aluminum and ma- 2026 Boatbuilding Innovative jor equipment formed part of the construction program,

Vessel Name Vessel Type Owner re? ecting the effort to establish a local supply chain for

Acadia Subsea Rock Installation Vessel GLDD offshore wind support vessels.

Marauder Escort / Ship-Assist Tug Maritime Partners

In Northwest Europe, the growth of LNG-fueled ship-

Saturn Escort Tug Suderman & Young ping is creating demand for specialized bunker vessels ca-

Mary McAllister Tractor / Escort Tug McAllister Towing pable of supplying ships at multiple ports.

John Paul Eckstein 10,000-hp Inland Linehaul Towboat Marquette

United LNG I, developed for Belgian shipping com-

Solomon Atkinson Naval Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ship U.S. Navy pany Somtrans, is an estuary-class LNG bunker barge

Al Sloss Inland Towboat Canal Barge measuring 135 meters long and 21.46 meters wide.

CMA CGM Electra Battery-Electric Inland Container Barge CMA CGM

Its cargo system comprises eight cylindrical Type C

Spirit of Mulgumpin High-Speed Passenger / Tour Vessel The Tour Collective tanks, each with a capacity of 1,000 cubic meters, designed

Alfonsino Arrow Offshore Wind Crew Transfer Vessel NYK Group to store lique? ed natural gas at approximately minus 165

United LNG I LNG Bunker Barge Somtrans degrees Celsius.

Kastritsi Azimuth Stern Drive Harbor Tug VTC

The barge is con? gured for inland waterway operations and coastal voyages as far as Zeebrugge, extending the range of ports it can serve.

Construction involved several countries. The hull was built in China and transported to the Netherlands, where

LNG tanks manufactured by Italy’s Gas & Heat were installed in Rotterdam. TeamCo Shipyard subsequently completed out? tting under the overall project manage- ment of RensenDriessen.

Christened in Antwerp, the vessel was scheduled to en- ter service in early 2026. A sister vessel is also planned to expand Somtrans’ LNG bunkering capacity.

Finally, Turkish shipbuilder Sanmar delivered Kastritsi to Bulgarian operator VTC S.A. for harbor towage opera- tions at Varna on the Black Sea.

Based on Robert Allan’s RApport 2500 design, the azi- muth stern drive tug measures 25.2 meters long and 12 meters wide, with a maximum draft of 4.2 meters.

Its shallow-draft con? guration supports operations in con? ned harbor waters, while ahead bollard pull exceed- ing 50 metric tons provides the power required for ship assistance.

The tug has a maximum speed of 12 knots, FiFi-1 ? re? ghting capability and accommodation for six crew members. Kastritsi is the ? fth vessel supplied by Sanmar to VTC since the companies began working together in 2003. It joins a ? eet supporting berthing, unberthing, coastal towing and emergency response in the Bulgarian ports of Varna and Balchik.

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