Industry Giant Boluda Towage Expands in Australia
Top global tug operator Boluda Towage has added another Australian port to its network after winning a 10-year contract to provide towage at the Port of Bunbury in Western Australia, taking over from its rival Svitzer.
Operated by Southern Ports, Bunbury is one of Western Australia's main ports. It has seven berths on a 470-hectare landholding, and it handled 16.9 million tonnes of trade from 418 vessel calls in the past year.
The port has long handled bulk commodities, but in recent years it has also become a link in Australia's clean energy transition. Southern Ports says Bunbury is the world's largest lithium export port, and it also brings in project cargo such as wind farm components and batteries.
The Western Australian government said Southern Ports awarded the contract after a competitive tender. Boluda, which the government describes as the world's largest towage provider, with operations in more than 232 ports, will take over from Svitzer Australia when Svitzer's contract expires in December.
Boluda Towage, part of Spain's Boluda Corporación Marítima, will serve the port with new tugs. The first is due in December and the second in February. Until then, a tug from Boluda's Esperance fleet will cover the port.
Bunbury will be Boluda's ninth Australian port, after Weipa, Mackay, Gladstone, Brisbane, Newcastle, Port Botany, Melbourne and Esperance. Esperance, also run by Southern Ports, became its first Western Australian port in November last year, when Boluda took over operations there after buying local tug operator Mackenzie Marine and Towage.
“As the Port of Bunbury grows alongside the South West, Boluda Towage will play an important role in supporting safe and reliable port operations,” said Western Australia's Ports Minister, Stephen Dawson.
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Boluda says the two new tugs will meet IMO Tier III emissions standards, which it says will significantly improve the emissions performance of towage at Bunbury while delivering safe, reliable and efficient service.
“We value our longstanding relationship with Southern Ports and look forward to strengthening that partnership, supporting our customers, and contributing to the continued growth of the Port of Bunbury and the industries it serves,” said Ivan Spanjic, managing director of Boluda Towage Australia.
