Cat, Svitzer Sign Marine Service Agreement

Svitzer and Caterpillar have signed a global services agreement designed to increase vessel up-time, drive service efficiency, and extend Svitzer’s overall service experience with Caterpillar.

As the world’s largest tug operator, Copenhagen-based Svitzer provides towage and sustainable marine solutions to customers in 30-plus countries across four regions.

This lifecycle agreement will include coverage for more than 100 Svitzer tugs powered by Cat Marine engines. A focused Caterpillar team working with the global Caterpillar dealer network will execute the terms of the contract.

“Our relationship with Svitzer has been maintained for numerous decades, and the signing of this agreement is the next evolution in our cooperation,” said Michael Braun, Tug and Dredge segment manager for Caterpillar Marine. “It is our aim to deliver the highest service excellence with a consistent service experience to Svitzer across their global fleet. With our expertise in marine engines and digital capabilities, we will provide Svitzer with greater insight into their operations — insight they can use to optimize fuel use, predict service events, and improve overall vessel uptime.”

Svitzer is constantly seeking to improve its ability to deliver reliable and cost-efficient services to its customers, said Ingrid Uppelschoten Snelderwaard, Svitzer’s newly appointed global COO.

“In Caterpillar Marine, we are seeing a strategic partner, who is willing to challenge the status quo and explore new ways to support Svitzer’s global strategy to be the industry leader for global towage and marine-related services,” she said. “The lifecycle agreement supports our global technical and maintenance strategy, by offering a strong foundation for our preventive maintenance, planned maintenance and periodical overhaul activities for all Cat main engines onboard our vessels. As a global company it is important to us and to our customers that we can always expect the same consistent high level of maintenance service, no matter where in the world we operate, and we welcome this sort of collaboration.”

With towage operations serving 34 terminals and 120 ports in the Americas, Australia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, Svitzer currently works with 27 Cat dealers globally to perform maintenance and repair services.

“We’re proud to extend our relationship with Svitzer. Our service approach starts with listening to our customer needs and then aligning our capabilities to enable their success. Our long history in serving marine customers, designing industry leading engines and servicing the engines globally, enhanced more recently with our digital solutions, has allowed us to create service solutions that benefit customer operations. Together with our global dealer network, we can support global customers with local needs,” said Derrick York, Caterpillar Marine’s general manager.