Uzmar perfects pushers

Turkish shipbuilder Umar has been working with Robert Allan on a series of six push boats for Hidrovias Do Brasil. A total of eight newbuldings will be completed in the first quarter of 2015 for deployment on the South American river system, of which six have been delivered

The Uzmar SDP 4600 Pushboat, which has a 69 tonne bollard pull range, offers improved power and manoeuvrability compared to its predecessors, as well as increased fuel efficiency. Following extensive CFD analysis performed by Robert Allan the hull shape, tunnel geometry and propulsive components have been optimised for the specific requirements of rivers in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. This was then verified by a series of model tests conducted at the Vienna Model Basin in Austria.

The result is a new generation pushboat which has an overall length of 45.6m, a 16.5m beam, a 2.1m draft in the dry season and 2.4m draft in the wet season. The vessels are powered by a 7200bHP diesel-electric engine, with azimuth drives and propellers in nozzles configured for shallow water operation. The diesel electric system is designed and manufactured by Turkey's leading ship electrical engineering and manufacturing company Elkon, in collaboration with with ABB . The new boats will run primarily on HFO, with the ability to operate on MDO, if needed.

One of the new Uzmar-built SDP 4600 push boats