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Antarctica21’s newbuild Magellan Discoverer is nearing completion at ASENAV in Valdivia, Chile, with arrival in Punta Arenas planned for 25 October 2026. The 94-metre polar cruise ship is due to begin revenue operations in Antarctica in December, after a naming ceremony planned for November.
SAAM Towage has ordered a second tug from Chilean yard ASENAV, adding to a vessel it already commissioned earlier this year. The new unit is a 32-metre Robert Allan RAstar 3200W design with more than 80 tonnes of bollard pull and IMO Tier III emissions controls.
ASMAR and ASENAV handed over two landing barges for the Armada de Chile’s Proyecto Escotillón IV on 6 May in Valdivia. The steel barges are 19.78 metres long, 5.6 metres wide and draw 1.1 metres, and can carry a crew of three and loads of up to 30 tonnes.
ASENAV has delivered the ferry Andalué after completing repairs and modernisation work for the Ministry of Public Works through the Port Works Directorate. The job included a full replacement of the propulsion system with four new, more powerful engines and deep maintenance of the azimuth propulsion lines.
ASENAV moved the 94-metre Magellan Discoverer through the Calle Calle river in Valdivia before the hybrid-electric cruise ship’s open-water trials. The vessel, built for Antarctica21, required the Cau Cau Bridge to be raised to at least 30 degrees for the crossing.
ASENAV said its new RAstar 3200-W escort tug is about 50% complete at its Valdivia yard and is due for delivery in February 2027. The speculative-build vessel will have 80 tonnes of bollard pull and is being built without a prior contract.
ASENAV was named Gran Empresa Transformadora in the Naturaleza y Biodiversidad category of the Premios Iniciativas Sustentables 2025 for its Magellan Discoverer project. The hybrid-electric cruise ship, built in Valdivia for Antarctica21, was cited for reducing CO2 emissions and underwater noise in Antarctic waters.
ASENAV said the Patagon II has completed scrapping in Valdivia after four decades in service. The vessel was one of the early conversions that helped establish Chile’s wellboat logistics for salmon farming.
ASENAV has begun construction of a barge for Lago O’Higgins after cutting steel at its Valdivia yard on 28 January 2026. The vessel, ordered by Chile’s Ministry of Public Works through its Ports Works Directorate, will be 27.4 metres long and carry up to 25 passengers, four cars or two trucks or minibuses.
ASENAV has signed its first shipbuilding contract with SAAM for a next-generation tug to be built in Valdivia, Chile. The RAstar 3200-W vessel is due to join SAAM’s Canadian fleet in the first half of 2027 after about 15 months of construction.