The General Directorate of Coastal Safety (KEGM), which is the greatest assurance of life, property, navigation, and environmental safety in Turkish waters, continues to expand its operational power without slowing down, utilizing domestic and national resources. As the first link in the strategic steps taken within the scope of the institution's 'Procurement of 6 Emergency Response Tugboats' project, an official contract has been signed with Sanmar Shipyard, the pride of Turkey's shipbuilding industry, for the construction of 2 tugboats with a towing capacity of 80 tons, which constitutes the first part of the project. These new marine vessels, which will undertake vital missions under challenging weather and sea conditions primarily in the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits, will significantly enhance Turkey's emergency response capacity in the face of increasing global maritime traffic and the enormous sizes of ship tonnage.

This important construction contract, which has created great satisfaction in the maritime sector, was signed on behalf of KEGM by General Manager Mustafa Bankaoğlu, and on behalf of Sanmar Maritime by Chairman Ali Gürün and Vice Chairman Cem Seven. The signatures affixed with Sanmar, recognized as one of the world's leading manufacturers in tugboat construction and export, which exports high-tech marine vessels built in its modern facilities in Tuzla and Altınova to all corners of the globe, once again highlighted the strong solidarity of domestic engineering and the private sector with state institutions.

When examining the sectoral history and the past order records of the institutions, it is clearly seen that this collaboration between KEGM and Sanmar is based on a very deep-rooted and successful foundation. Sanmar Shipyard has successfully signed world-class projects that respond to KEGM's challenging operational needs in the recent past. In 2021, the company delivered the 'Kurtarma 15' tugboat with a towing capacity of 90 tons, and at the end of 2023, during a widely attended ceremony, it added the emergency response tugboats 'Kurtarma 17' and 'Kurtarma 18,' with a towing capacity of 82 tons, to KEGM's proud fleet. The new generation of 80-ton tugboats, whose contracts were signed today, will continue this superior service tradition uninterrupted with their environmentally friendly technologies, advanced firefighting (Fi-Fi 1), escort, towing, and search-and-rescue capabilities. It is aimed for these floating fortresses, which will elevate the passage safety of the Turkish Straits beyond international standards, to be constructed in a short time on Sanmar's experienced slipways and to commence their proud service in our seas.

Source: SeaNews Türkiye