Pusher tug ordered for Uruguay pulp transport

Concordia Damen secured the order to construct and outfit a shallow-draught river pusher from the Uruguayan shipowner and operator.

This will be built to CDS2410 design with an overall length of 24 m and a beam of 10 m. It will have 1,788 kW of installed propulsion power, coming from a pair of Caterpillar-manufactured Cat C32 engines generating 894 kW at 1,800 rpm each.

TFF will use this vessel to push barges transporting cellulose pulp from Fray Bentos to the port of Nueva Palmira, Uruguay, where it can be exported on ships.

As part of this contract, Concordia Damen researched the river characteristics in the region to ascertain the required operational profile of the vessel.

Based on these studies, its engineers designed the most efficient pusher accounting for the local conditions and developed the low-draught push boat design. It says this 1,788-kW river pusher is a further development of earlier pusher tugs employed in Uruguay.

“This is an opportunity to grow our business with the innovative design of the low-draught pusher,” says TFF chief executive Fernando Perera Bruno.

Concordia Damen will outfit this vessel at its shipyard in Werkendam, the Netherlands. Afterwards, TFF superintendents will come to the Netherlands to monitor sea acceptance trials and for the handover, which is scheduled to take place in October 2024.

“We have designed and will deliver this push boat to exceed expectations of TFF for river transport services in Uruguay,” says Concordia Damen technical manager Bert Duijzer.

TFF, part of the CHR Group, owns a fleet of non-self-propelled barges and tugboats to transport goods on the Uruguay, Río de la Plata and Paraná rivers, including more than 1M tonnes of cellulose per year between Fray Bentos and Nueva Palmira.

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