Boluda Towage Christens Tugboat VB Marte at Genoa Ceremony

On October 22, Boluda Towage held a christening ceremony at the Port of Genoa to present its new tugboat VB Marte, a Damen ASD Tug 2813 delivered by the Damen Song Cam Shipyard last December. The vessel completed the voyage from Vietnam to Italy under its own power before joining the fleet. At the same event, the company also christened the tugboat VB Insignia, as part of a joint presentation that strengthened its presence in the Italian Mediterranean.

The VB Marte has a beam of 12.93 meters, which provides additional stability, and can generate up to 83 tonnes of bollard pull during towing operations, while also offering a clear view from the wheelhouse for operators. Boluda chose to equip it with a stern winch, a crane, a FiFi 1 firefighting system and oil spill recovery capability.

According to Damen, although the Mediterranean is not currently designated as a NOx emission control area under IMO Tier III regulations, Boluda decided to install a Damen Marine NOx Reduction System on the VB Marte, which cuts nitrogen oxide emissions by 80%. Info Puertos noted, for its part, that the company confirmed both tugboats christened in Genoa, VB Insignia and VB Marte, were built in compliance with IMO Tier III regulations, although it did not disclose details in its statement regarding power, dimensions or associated investment.

The ceremony brought together Vicente Boluda Fos, Chairman of Boluda Corporación Marítima; Vicente Boluda Ceballos, Executive Chairman of Boluda Towage; Jorge Rosety, General Manager of Boluda Towage; José María Collado, the company's Global Technical Director; Alberto Dellepiane, CEO of the Italian division; Antonio Marte, Sales Manager at Damen Shipyards; Raffaele Porzio, of MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company; and Matteo Paroli, President of the Genoa Port Authority. The ceremony's godmother was Anne-Marie Verheijden Marte, wife of Antonio Marte, who expressed her honor at having been invited to name the vessel.

Boluda Towage, which according to its own figures operates in more than 232 ports across five continents with a fleet of over 850 vessels and around 10,000 employees, presented the addition of VB Insignia and VB Marte as part of the modernization of its towage capacity in Italy. Vicente Boluda Ceballos linked the company's growth to improved efficiency and closeness to customers, noting that both vessels mark the future direction of the fleet. The presentation in Genoa coincided with the announcement of the addition of the VB Norwegian Falcon to strengthen the company's operations in Norway.