Boluda Towage Acquires Muller Dordrecht to Expand Offshore Towage

Spanish tug operator Boluda Towage has acquired full ownership of Muller Dordrecht, a Dutch maritime services company with more than a century of experience in offshore towage, heavy transport and specialized marine projects. The business will operate as Boluda Muller Towage, focusing on offshore and marine project customers worldwide. The deal adds a specialized fleet of 16 tugs and eight barges to one of the world’s largest towage groups.

 

The Acquisition and New Identity

 

Boluda Towage announced the transaction on 4 November 2026, marking a further step in its international growth strategy. Muller Dordrecht will trade as Boluda Muller Towage and continue its specialized activities alongside Boluda Towage Europe’s existing harbor and coastal operations. It will draw on the resources and international reach of the wider Boluda organization, which also includes container shipping and terminal businesses. Financial terms were not disclosed.

According to Dutch trade paper Schuttevaer, Muller will remain an independent operating unit based in Dordrecht. The current management team will stay in place, and former owner and chief executive Bram Muller will become an adviser. The Muller family cited growing consolidation and the importance of scale in a capital-intensive market as reasons for the sale. The new ownership is expected to support further investment, expanded capacity and the recruitment and development of staff.

 

Muller Dordrecht’s Heritage and Fleet

 

Founded in 1918, Muller Dordrecht has built expertise in technically demanding marine work, from offshore and coastal towage to heavy transport and complex marine projects. Its fleet comprises 16 tugs, seven of which can support offshore operations, along with eight barges. Experienced crews and long-standing customer relationships are a large part of what Boluda is buying. Specialist project towage relies heavily on that operational know-how, which is difficult to replicate quickly.

The company’s most recent addition was the azimuth stern drive tug En Avant 19, delivered in the first quarter of 2026. Built by Damen Song Cam Shipyard in Vietnam to Damen’s ASD 2811 design, the 29-meter tug has a beam of 11 meters and a bollard pull of 65 tonnes. Damen said the vessel was designed for inland, harbor and offshore work while improving crew comfort. Its twin four-stroke diesel engines feed a selective catalytic reduction unit that cuts NOx emissions by around 80 percent, meeting IMO Tier III requirements.

 

Strategic Rationale for Boluda

 

The acquisition gives Boluda a dedicated offshore and project towage capability to complement its core harbor towage business. Offshore towage covers tasks such as moving rigs, floating structures, heavy-lift barges, and components for offshore energy projects, which require specialized vessels and planning skills. Executive Chairman Vicente Boluda Ceballos said Muller has built an excellent reputation over more than a century and brings highly specialized offshore towage capabilities. He added that the acquisition broadens the group’s capabilities and supports Muller’s focus on serving customers worldwide.

Demand for these services is supported by offshore wind construction in the North Sea, oil and gas decommissioning, and the movement of large modules and floating units. By adding Muller’s expertise, Boluda can bid for more complex, higher-value project work alongside its routine port operations. The Dordrecht base also places the business close to major Dutch and North Sea offshore markets. This positions Boluda Muller Towage to compete with established Dutch and northern European project towage specialists.

 

Read More: https://oceaneconomist.com/articles/solstad-maritime-subsea-contracts

 

Boluda’s Broader Expansion

 

The Muller deal is part of a wider expansion by Boluda Maritime Corp, the family-owned parent group. In late October 2026, its subsidiary Boluda Shipping signed an agreement to acquire rival Samskip. That transaction would expand Boluda’s shipping network linking Northern Europe with the Iberian Peninsula, the Canary Islands and West Africa. It is expected to close on 1 January 2027, subject to regulatory approval and the agreed closing conditions.

The Samskip deal brings together two family-owned businesses with long histories in transport and logistics. Together with the Muller acquisition, it shows Boluda building scale across towage, shipping and logistics at the same time. The towage division has also been expanding its fleet globally, with recent newbuild deliveries for operations in Europe, the Indian Ocean and Latin America. The pattern points to a group using consolidation to strengthen its position across several maritime markets.

 

Consolidation in the Towage Sector

 

The acquisition reflects a broader trend of consolidation in the global towage industry. Rising newbuild costs, stricter emissions rules and demand for larger, more powerful tugs are putting pressure on smaller and family-owned operators. Scale makes it easier to fund fleet renewal, spread overhead and serve international customers. Larger groups are increasingly absorbing specialist players to add capabilities they would otherwise take years to build.

For Muller, joining a larger group offers access to capital and an international network while preserving its brand heritage and specialist focus. For Boluda, it adds a recognized name in offshore and project towage at a time when energy transition work is creating new demand. How smoothly the business integrates while keeping its operational independence will determine the deal’s long-term value. The move also signals that further consolidation is likely among Europe’s independent towage operators.

 

Source: Boluda