Sanmar Shipyards used its platform at this year’s BTA Annual Conference in Liverpool to deliver something more valuable than a simple 50-year milestone narrative
By Edwin Lampert
Sanmar Shipyards provided valuable insight into its decades of success (source: Sanmar Shipyards)
Delegates at this year’s BTA Annual Conference in Liverpool received a candid account of what it takes to build a world-class niche shipyard, including the parts that did not go to plan.
Founded in 1976, Sanmar now delivers more than 30 tugs annually, has 14 battery-electric tugs in commercial operation across four continents, and has sustained a valuable strategic partnership with Robert Allan Limited for over 30 years.
Addressing the audience, Sanmar Shipyards regional sales director, Gary Dockerty, spoke frankly about the potential pitfalls for shipbuilders of technology insertion without ensuring manufacturing processes and supply chains present the required robustness and resilience. He framed supply chain management not as procurement, but as relationship-building, requiring strategic alignment rather than a narrow focus on price and delivery.
Design for manufacturing formed the technical core of the presentation. Reducing component complexity and integrating design with production from the outset results in tugs that are better priced, faster to deliver and easier to maintain. The Rastar 3200SX and 2900SX stand as clear examples, with direct implications for operators assessing life-cycle costs.
On electrification, the message was equally direct. The technology works: 14 vessels in operation prove that. However, deploying it ahead of supporting infrastructure could potentially attract both cost and reputational risk, which has to be managed effectively. Sequencing, as Mr Dockerty emphasised, matters as much as ambition.
Thanks to this candour, operators left with a clearer framework for newbuild decisions and access to senior-level insight that no brochure can replicate.
The article can be found on Riviera’s website here – Riviera – News Content Hub – What fifty years of building tugs teaches you
With gratitude to Edwin Lampert and Riviera for granting permission to the BTA to publish the article.
