Wilson Sons will start building, in 2025, three powerful tugboats with sustainable technology at its shipyard in Guarujá, São Paulo

Wilson Sons, a leader in port and maritime logistics in Brazil, will start building, next year, a new range of three super powerful tugboats with sustainable technology at its shipyard in Guarujá, São Paulo. It plans on renewing and modernizing its fleet of more than 80 tugboats, which operate along the Brazilian coast.

The three vessels are ASD 2312 (23 metres long and 12 metres wide) tugs with azimuth propulsion and 70 tons of bollard pull, and are capable of supporting 366-metre super container ships on docking and undocking manoeuvres in the country's main ports.

The new tugs follow the IMO TIER III standard established by the International Maritime Organization, which attests to the reduction of up to 70% of nitrogen oxide, just like the six 2513-make (90 tons) tugs delivered over the previous building cycle. Their Damen Shipyards twin-fin hull design leads to reduced greenhouse gas emissions and an estimated decrease of 14% in the consumption of fossil fuels, supporting the improvement of air quality in the ports where they operate.

Wilson Sons COO Arnaldo Calbucci says that the new tugs are part of the company's fleet renewal strategy and support its commitment to modernizing its operations.

“This new tugboat building cycle generates employment and income across the maritime and port community, which supports trade flow and fosters the industry and Brazil’s development,” he says.

With funds from the Merchant Navy Fund (FMM), with BNDES as the financial agent, the new tugboats will feature a fire-fighting system with capacity of 2,400 litres/h (FiFi I). Other features includes their main engines, with fewer cylinders, which helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while maintaining the same bollard pull of 70 tons.

Deliveries of the new tugboats are scheduled for November 2025, March and June 2026.

“Wilson Sons uses cutting-edge technology in its tugboat building structure, while focusing on safety and operational efficiency. With Damen’s expertise and the know-how of our teams, we will ensure a top-notch building project,” says the executive director of Wilson Sons shipyard division Adalberto Souza.

With this new range, Wilson Sons will reach the milestone of 156 vessels built at its shipyard, which has more than 80 years of history.

Scheduled vessel maintenance rises by more than 20% this year

In addition to the new building project, Wilson Sons has been docking three tugboats from different shipowners at its shipyard. Scheduled maintenance works performed simultaneously include hull and deckhouse painting, structural repairs, valve maintenance and repair, and maintenance on propellers and electrical systems. To deliver docking services and build new tugboats, the company currently has around 300 specialized professionals.

The shipyard division expects 27 dockings to be completed by the end of 2024. The shipyard business unit should achieve a 22% rise in scheduled maintenance activities this year.