The company, which is part of the Maersk Group, has added two new Brazilian-flag tugs for operations at the Paranagua Port in January 2017, strengthening Svitzer’s position in the south of the country where it already operates at Sao Francisco do Sul and Itapoa.
Additionally, Svitzer is building four new tugs at Inace shipyard in Fortaleza and expects delivery in the second half of 2017. This means Svitzer will have 10 Brazilian-flag ships in operation by year-end. Recently, Svitzer started operations in Argentina with nine tugs, assigning there some of the foreign-flag ships originally brought to Brazil in 2015.
On top of this, Svitzer that also operates a PSV in Brazil, has appointed Rutger Thulin to head operations. Thulin is the former cfo for Svitzer in Europe, where Svitzer operates 110 tugs.
Thulin explains why Svitzer increases its presence in Brazil even at the height of difficult times for the Brazilian shipping market: “There is strong demand for a provider that offers world-class services, best practices, reliability and punctuality in Brazil, and this is especially important for our portfolio of global and local clients.
“Paranagua is part of our growth strategy and strengthens our position in the south of Brazil as we continue to invest in Brazilian flag ships.” The new Paranagua vessels - 77 and 75 TBP tugs – are of Robert Allan design and were built at the Cheoy Lee Shipyard.
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