Hybrid Tug News

Berg Propulsion has been selected to provide control and propulsion technology for what will be one of the largest hybrid tugs ever delivered, after owner Buksér og Berging AS (BuBe) agreed specifications with Turkey’s Uzmar Shipyard for its latest newbuild.Berg has been contracted to provide the full electrical power and control package for the Robert Allan-designed Rampage 4100BB-H tug, which will join BuBe’s North Sea operations in December 2024. Supply will include the electric motors…

Any commentator on the maritime business decarbonization voyage will offer something along the lines of "There will be multiple fuels…" With the International Maritime Organization (IMO) meetings of its Maritime Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) set for early July, it is likely that targets for emissions will be tightened. Whatever mileposts that the IMO actually establishes, there will be no prescriptions handed down on how to get there. By mid-2023, nearly two years after the late 2021 alternative fuels crescendo in the aftermath of the COP26 meetings in Glasgow…

The commercial maritime industry is seeking solutions to improve efficiency and reduce emissions, and a wide range of new solutions are coming to market to answer the call. Among these is a new design for a methanol-hybrid tug from naval architecture and marine engineering firm Glosten. The SA-100, developed in collaboration with systems integrator ABB, is a high-powered tug with 90-ton bollard pull that’s “intended to give operators a means to improve environmental performance…

Sembcorp Marine celebrated the naming of JMS Sunshine, its first of a series of LNG hybrid tugs specially designed for domestic service in Singapore.Sembcorp Marine commissioned the design and build of the world’s first LNG hybrid tug in 2018, and the company plans to build a fleet of tugs to progressively replace the existing diesel-powered fleet operated by Jurong Marine Services (JMS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Marine Ltd and a licensed operator of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

Glosten and ABB have teamed to develop a methanol-hybrid ship assist tug design. The "SA-100" is a 100-ft. ASD harbor tug—designed to measure under 100 grt—is propelled by two methanol compatible CAT 3512E gensets powering electrically driven L-drives. The gensets are complemented by battery banks for zero-emission operation when transiting, peak shaving during general operation, and as boost for achieving the tug’s peak bollard pull of 90 short tons.“We had three primary design objectives in developing this tug—all intended to benefit the owner/operator…

The high-powered tug Spartan joined the Seabulk fleet, featuring a fully integrated hybrid propulsion plant from Berg Propulsion. The tug is already operational at Port Arthur following delivery by Master Boat Builders, and the Robert Allan-designed RApport 3000 vessel is the first of two 90-ton bollard pull tugs using the Berg package, with the second due in service in Q3 2022.In addition to Berg MTA 628 azimuthing thrusters, Berg VS3 variable frequency drives with motors, and its own hybrid control system…

Master Boat Builders, Inc. announced that earlier this month, Spartan, an electric-hybrid tugboat was delivered to Seabulk. This modern and unique tug was built at MBB’s Coden, Ala., yard for Seabulk.“The Spartan is the latest addition to our fleet and constitutes the first of two hybrid diesel-electric vessels commissioned from Master Boat Builders. She is representative of their advanced workmanship and ability to deliver modern, cutting-edge marine technology. We look forward to continuing to deliver service excellence and offering our customers a more sustainable towing solution…

Master Boat Builders, Inc. (MBB), together with naval architect and marine engineering firm, Robert Allan Ltd. (RAL) announced the creation of a new battery hybrid tugboat design, the ElectRA 3000-H. This design has been developed over the past several months to suit the evolving needs of U.S. tugboat operators.“This unique hybrid tugboat design is the result of a strong and growing working relationship between Robert Allan Ltd. and Master Boat Builders and it builds upon our…

Seabulk's new electric-hybrid tugboat Spartan was launched on November 1 at Master Boat Builders' Coden, Ala., shipyard.Scheduled to be delivered in January 2022, the Robert Allan Ltd.-designed vessel has overall length of 98 feet, beam of 43 feet and bollard pull of 90 tons. The integrated hybrid propulsion system was provided by Thompson Tractor and includes two EPA Tier 4 certified Caterpillar 3512E main engines, each producing 2,550 horsepower and two Berg MTA 628 azimuth thrusters…

Will Roberts joined Seattle-based Foss Maritime in 2017 as chief commercial officer, and in 2018 he was named chief operating officer. Prior to joining Foss, Roberts held a number of leadership roles for marine systems and services provider Rolls-Royce, rising to senior vice president, customer and services–Americas. A U.S. Navy veteran, Roberts served as a qualified deck and engineering officer aboard the fast attack submarine USS Honolulu. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in ocean engineering and holds a Master of Engineering Management from Old Dominion University.

The concept of “hybrid tug” is getting a whole new definition with an innovative new tug under construction at Turkey’s Uzmar Shipyard for the Danish Port of Aarhus. From the outside it looks very similar to other Robert Allan Ltd-designed tugs built at the Uzmar yard. The RAmparts 3000 ASD tug, to be named Hermes is 30.25 by 11.75 meters.In the engine room and in the thruster rooms of the azimuthing stern drive (ASD) tug, the innovations are revealed. A pair of Cummins QSK60 IMO stage II compliant engines…

Singapore-based Sembcorp Marine chose Schottel’s azimuthal hybrid drive system SYDRIVE-E to power the world’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) hybrid tug. With this first in a series of 12 vessels, Sembcorp Marine will build the world’s first hybrid LNG-fueled tug fleet that will replace its existing diesel-powered tugs. The vessel is designed by LMG Marin, a wholly owned Sembcorp Marine subsidiary, and a leading naval architecture design house in Bergen, Norway, which provides…

A new liquefied natural gas (LNG)-hybrid tug—said to be the world's first—will be equipped with two mtu 16V 4000 M55RN gas engines from manufacturer Rolls-Royce.The harbor tug will be built by Sembcorp Marine Integrated Yard and operated in Singapore by Jurong Marine Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Marine. The new LNG-hybrid tug is the first of 12 tugs that Sembcorp Marine plans to design and build to replace the existing diesel-powered ones between now and 2025.LNG as a fuel virtually eliminates sulphur oxide emissions…

Robert Allan Ltd. is a consulting naval architectural firm, established in Vancouver, Canada in 1930. Mike Fitzpatrick has been a driving force in the company’s growth since joining the firm in 2003. As a key member of the initial employee ownership group, he was named president and CEO in 2015, responsible for corporate direction, business development, management of senior project managers, and project priorities, schedules and profitability. Fitzpatrick is a 1995 graduate of the University of New South Wales in Australia, with a Bachelor of Engineering in naval architecture.

Sembcorp Marine subsidiary Jurong Marine Services has ordered a hybrid tug for delivery from the Sembcorp Marine shipyard by the end of 2020.The tug, which will operate in Singapore harbor, will be equipped with ABB’s electric propulsion, power, energy storage, control and automation technology, making it the first tug in South Asia capable of switching between low emission liquefied natural gas (LNG) engines and zero-emission battery power, ABB said.LNG as a fuel virtually eliminates sulphur oxide emissions…

Caterpillar Marine has announced the ceremonial launch of Sanmar’s new hydraulic hybrid tug,  BOĞAÇAY XXXVIII (38), completely equipped with a Cat Marine Advanced Variable Drive (AVD). The BOĞAÇAY 38 enters the industry as the world’s first AVD vessel. The ceremony took place in January 2020 at the Sanmar shipyard in Istanbul, Turkey, and the tug is scheduled to soon join the Sanmar towage fleet.BOĞAÇAY XXXVIII  is a Robert Allan Ltd. designed Ramparts 2400SX harbor tug, including an integrated Caterpillar AVD system of 3512 main engines…

The most powerful ice-breaking tug of this size, TundRA 3600-H (Hybrid) tug VILJA was christened in the Port of Luleå, Sweden.The 36-metre tug is yet another significant achievement of Robert Allan Ltd. The hybrid propulsion system and the use of batteries provides the vessel with flexibility and efficiency to perform its task year-round.The tug will be capable of operating entirely on the electrical battery power feeding shaft driven motor generator sets as well as the ship’s load only or by utilizing a single main engine in the hybrid diesel-electrical mode driving both shafts via the same motor generator sets producing a bollard pull of up to 55 tonnes…

The technology group Wärtsilä’s hybrid power module solution, the Wärtsilä HY, is now fully operational on the ‘Vilja’, an escort tug owned by the Swedish port of Luleå.The tug was built at Gondan Shipbuilders in Asturias, Spain and was delivered in the end of June 2019 following successful completion of the commissioning and sea trials. The Wärtsilä HY is the first hybrid power module in the marine industry, and its operational application onboard the ‘Vilja’ marks a new era in shipping.The solution has been specially developed to meet the specific needs of the tug market.

Turkey’s leading tug builder Sanmar Shipyards was selected by Caterpillar Marine to build the first tug to incorporate its hydraulic hybrid propulsion system. Construction is currently under way with delivery scheduled for October 2019. Furthermore the two companies, from different continents, are joining together to present their collaborative efforts at the Tugnology 19 Conference and Exhibition, scheduled to be held in Liverpool, England, May 14-15, 2019.Tugs represent some of the more power dense and cost competitive vessels…

The Boat builders in Freeland, Washington, Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB) has successfully trialed and delivered Baydelta Maritime’s,  new 100’ x 40’ Delta Class Hybrid Tractor Tug.The Tug is the seventh tractor tug NBBB has built for Baydelta and its affiliated companies, but the first Hybrid, an exciting milestone for both NBBB and Baydelta.Baydelta CEO, Shawn Bennett said: "The Delta Teresa is a great addition to our fleet of the 100x40 90 ton tugs. Baydelta and Nichols Brothers have a long standing relationship, together creating what is widely recognized as the premier Harbor tug class”.The tug is powered by two (2) Caterpillar C3516 C Tier 3 diesel engines each rated at 1995 kW @ 1600 rpm and by two (2) 424kw electric motors.

Rolls-Royce received Approval in Principle (AIP) from classification organization ABS for its novel hybrid propulsion system for tractor tugs.The AIP was granted following an evaluation of the world’s first hybrid tug, a unique vessel designed by Jensen Maritime and which Nichols Brothers Boat Builders will deliver to Baydelta Maritime LLC in February 2019. The vessel will be the first tug boat installed with the Rolls-Royce hybrid propulsion system.ABS considers the Rolls-Royce hybrid system is…

Rolls-Royce said it will supply a hybrid propulsion arrangement for installation to a multipurpose tractor tug being built for Baydelta Maritime LLC at the Nichols Brothers Boat Builders shipyard in Washington State, U.S. The 100-foot long tug is due for delivery in the first quarter of 2019, and will feature the same ship assist and tanker escort capabilities of existing Delta Class harbor tugs but with improved towing performance. Rolls-Royce said its hybrid system enhances the vessel’s escort capability…

Jensen Maritime was recently selected to provide the design for Baydelta Maritime’s new 100-foot, Z-Drive hybrid tugboat. It will use Rolls-Royce hybrid technology and represents the first installation of a hybrid system for Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB), and the first hybrid tug designed by Jensen to enter the construction phase. Scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2019, the tug will feature the same ship assist and tanker escort capabilities of existing Valor class harbor tugs, but with multiple operational modes.