SMS Towage in £5m launch of service at Belfast Harbour

The Hull-based company, which started in 2002, has launched the new service with an investment of more than £5m.

It follows an expansion into the South Wales Ports last year.

The Belfast Harbour service is to start next month with tug boats capable of handling a full range of vessels.

They will be manned 24 hours a day and provide a ‘just in time’ service for the convenience of customers.

SMS Towage’s managing director Patrick Lyon said that the company had been set up to meet a clear demand for its services.

“We see Belfast as a strategic location. It is a vibrant port that will be home to a purpose-built cruise terminal, a new offshore wind terminal and had a record year in 2012.

“We believe there is great potential for growth in the new business that will result in local employment.”

Mr Lyon said that the company had grown quickly over the last 10 years to become the UK’s largest independent harbour towage company.

“This was achieved through offering a highly flexible, competitive service and continual investment in our modern fleet.

“It is a real milestone being involved in a Belfast-owned company.

“We envisage that we will make a great success of it by applying our experience of this specialist area of business to offer Belfast Harbour users a superior, economical service and advanced fleet of omnidirectional tugs.”

The Irishman and Masterman tugs will be mobilised to Belfast during September.

SMS Towage in England operates a fleet of 10 tugs from the Humber, the fourth busiest trading estuary in Europe.