SAAM Towage Brazil is the first towage company in Brazil to neutralise 100% of its scope 1 and 2 (direct and indirect) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2022. Last year, the company generated 33,806 tons of CO2e.
More specifically, the biogas project captures and destroys methane gas (CH4) generated by household garbage at a landfill in São Paulo. The site receives 1,200,000 tons of solid waste annually from some twenty municipalities in the region. Thus, instead of being released into the atmosphere, this gas is captured through drains and then filtered and cooled to be used as fuel to generate energy.
“In addition to internal measures to control and reduce diesel consumption, which seek to improve operational efficiency—a key corporate focus—we decided to take another step and offset the footprint of our operations with carbon credits from the Estre Pedreira biogas project,” explained SAAM Towage Brazil country manager, Renata Ervilha.
Meanwhile, SAAM Towage received two new vessels in Brazil, giving it one of the most competitive and modern fleets in the country.
In particular, the new vessels are the last two of the 21 tugs acquired from Starnav this year. This brings SAAM Towage’s fleet in Brazil to 65 vessels operating at 19 ports.
Τhese tugs were built by Chilean shipyard Detroit and feature azimuth propellers powered by a mechanical hybrid system that allows them to connect them at will and sail with a single engine, which makes for more efficient use of fuel on extended trips.
“These new tugs fill out our modern fleet that allows us to offer better services to our customers and are another step towards more sustainable operations,” said Ervilha.