Ebdg News

Seattle-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) has acquired Coastwise Corporation. The Anchorage, Alaska-based firm—an expert in shallow draft, high-speed aluminum and cold weather engineering—has been rebranded as Coastwise Engineering and will operate as a division of EBDG.As part of the agreement, EBDG acquires Coastwise's assets and adds a staff of more than 50 employees. Coastiwse owner and principal, Patrick Eberhardt, joins EBDG as a full-time employee…

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä has entered into a collaboration agreement with U.S.-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) to further develop its Clean Harbor Alternative Mobile Power (CHAMP) Barge design.Featuring Wärtsilä’s methanol engine technology, the collaboration introduces a solution to reduce emissions from large vessels in situations where conventional shore power is limited or not available.The floating mobile power…

Wärtsilä announced it is teaming up with Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) to advance EBDG’s Clean Harbor Alternative Mobile Power (CHAMP) Barge design.This partnership introduces a cost-effective solution to reduce emissions from large vessels in situations where traditional shore power is not available and features Wärtsilä's dual fuel methanol engine technology, the partners said.The floating mobile platform offers a power range of 6 to 16 Megawatts, utilizing green methanol as its source.

Mike Complita is going on 30 years in the maritime industry. Complita started work at Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) as an intern while attending the University of Washington in his hometown, Seattle. “And since that time, I've served in pretty much every role, from a technical and project management standpoint, all the way up to principal of our organization,” he said. Today, as Principal in Charge and VP of Strategic Expansion, Complita works alongside EBDG’s other principals to help guide the firm’s project managers…

As the devotion to more sustainable shipping expands and regulations become more stringent, the demand for lower emissions operations continues to increase. As a result, the marine industry is confronted with the challenge of large-scale electrification as an alternative energy solution.For electric ferries, one developing technology is Rapid Charging Systems (RCS), which transfer electrical power from the shore to a vessel at a high rate. These charging systems establish a ship-to-shore connection quickly…

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…

Fire Island Ferries has taken delivery of its newest vessel, Fire Island Maid, designed by Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) and built by Metal Shark in Bayou La Batre, Ala.The 70- by  23-foot multipurpose vehicle ferry features a steel hull and aluminum superstructure and is equipped with a hydraulic ramp for loading and unloading heavy equipment. The reinforced deck is capable of supporting fully loaded concrete trucks and general cargo up to 100,000 pounds. The aft pilot house accommodates two crew and up to six passengers (assumed to be in their vehicles).

Late last year we caught up with Robert Ekse, President, Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG), for his take on how the Future Fuels debate is effectively shaping maritime technology development and vessel investment.Most reading these pages know the EBDG name, but can you give us a quick update?Elliott Bay Design Group has been around for a long time, [at first] primarily focused on ferry design and refurbishment. We've branched out over the years in many different directions, including tugs and barges and other workboats.

With travel and tourism nearing pre-2020 levels, and transit systems benefiting from a return to work, passenger vessels have seen renewed activity. In its year-end review, John Groundwater, Executive Director of the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA), which advocates for the sector in Washington, D.C. wrote: “As we are nearing the end of the calendar year, we are delighted to report that our industry, and our members, are reporting far and wide that they have experienced very…

Seattle-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) last week unveiled the design for a new barge engineered to offer power and charging to vessels in ports and harbors.Delivering 7 megawatts (MW) of continuous power generated by methanol, the 225-foot-long floating mobile platform is capable of cold ironing to minimize emissions from large vessels both at the pier and at anchor for up to two weeks before refueling.In addition, it offers double duty as an "in-field" DC charging station for electric harbor tugs and other smaller service vessels.

Seattle-based naval architecture firm Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) announced it is working with Miller Marine, a marine metal fabrication shop in Deltaville, Va., to design and construct a fully electric truckable tug.The versatile vessel is designed as a multi-functional utility boat servicing marine construction sites, tending dredges, tending buoys, short range ferry operations and other near shore operations such as crew transportation or line handling, the designer said.EBDG will incorporate an electrical propulsion system into Miller Marine's proven truckable tug design.

Tacoma, Wash.-based Silverback Marine is a relatively new name in boatbuilding, formed with the tall ambition to “change the way the world thinks about workboats”.“We started Silverback with the vision of essentially bringing, what I would call, the big boat experience to smaller workboats. Enabling people to get a smaller workboat, but also have a real naval architect and engineer go through it—give them renderings, give them that tailored experience that you would normally only find if you’re getting a much larger vessel…

Rarely does a vessel come along with the potential to radically change the way an industry operates, but one such vessel is set to hit the water in 2023.This new vessel, a towboat named Hydrogen One, is being developed by Louisiana-based Maritime Partners, the largest lessor of marine equipment in the U.S. It will be the first of its kind globally to run on emissions-reducing methanol-to-hydrogen generator technology—no diesel propulsion on board—as the maritime industry continues…

Jeffersonville, Ind.-headquartered marine transportation company American Commercial Barge Line (ACBL) is expected to operate Hydrogen One, a first-of-its-kind towboat that will run on emissions-reducing methanol-to-hydrogen generator technology—without diesel propulsion.The groundbreaking vessel is being developed by Louisiana-based Maritime Partners, the U.S.' largest lessor of marine equipment, and will be built by Intracoastal Iron Works in Bourg, La. for launch in 2023 as…

North Kingstown, R.I. shipyard Senesco Marine will build a hybrid-electric passenger vehicle ferry for Portland, Maine-based Casco Bay Lines.Designed by Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG), the 164-foot ferry will replace an existing diesel-powered ferry, the Machigonne II, resulting in a reduction of 800 tons of carbon dioxide each year.EBDG has supported Casco Bay Lines and their steering committee since 2018 as they prepared and planned for this replacement ferry, operating between Portland and Peaks Island, Maine.

Naval architecture and marine engineering firm Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) has partnered with Tacoma-based workboat builder  Silverback Marine to design what it says is a compact yet mighty tugboat that can be transported by truck over the road. The truckable tug has an overall length of 25' - 10 ⅞", a beam of 14' - 6" and a draft of 3' - 4". This vessel design offers a tug that can be easily transported to job sites with enough power and maneuverability to perform push-assists.

There’s no energy shortage when it comes to projects promoting the viability of alternatively fueled marine vessels (alt-fueled vessels).Consider just a few examples:Crowley Maritime Corp will take delivery in 2023 of an electric tugboat, dubbed eWolf, built by Master Boat Builders in Coden, Ala.The Hydrogen One towboat, using methanol-to-hydrogen technology, is being developed by its owner Maritime Partners.Master Boat Builders and Robert Allan Ltd. announced last fall the creation of a new battery hybrid, the ElectRA 3000-H, designed for U.S.

It’s a common story in the U.S. shipbuilding industry today. A piece of equipment that used to be available for delivery on short notice—maybe in one or two weeks—now must be ordered months or more in advance, and it costs double. Add to this rising steel prices and the labor issues that have pervaded nearly all industrial sectors since the early days of the pandemic, and it’s clear that business is far from usual for American shipyards.Bollinger Shipyards president and CEO, Ben Bordelon…

Metal Shark won a contract to build a new vehicle ferry for Fire Island Ferries, a vessel designed by Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG).Construction of the new Fire Island Maid recently commenced at Metal Shark’s Bayou La Batre, Alabama shipyard, and the 70 x 23-ft.vessel features a steel hull and aluminum superstructure. With its hydraulically operated bow ramp and reinforced decks designed to support fully loaded concrete trucks and general cargo, the new ferry will provide transport between Bay Shore…

Sea Change - America’s first hydrogen powered ferrySWITCH Maritime’s new 70-foot passenger ferry Sea Change is navigating uncharted waters as the United States’ first zero-emissions, hydrogen fuel cell-powered, electric-drive ferry.The pioneering aluminum newbuild, constructed by Bellingham, Wash. shipbuilder All American Marine, Inc. (AAM), has been completed and was launched this summer, though permitting of hydrogen fuel systems for maritime vessels is still being worked out with the U.S. Coast Guard.“Legislation and laws for passenger safety did not exist yet for this type of vessel.

Alternatives to fossil fuels are emerging throughout the maritime universe, and vessels working in U.S. rivers, waterways and harbors are at the cusp on this trend. While the alternative fuels spectrum is wide, battery power and electrification—a technology that has seen a decade of shipboard applications already—is particularly suited for smaller vessels.Crowley Maritime Corp will be taking delivery of a completely electric tugboat, dubbed eWolf; the boat- which will include kit for advanced vessel control tied to an electric propulsion system from ABB…

Nautilus Data Technologies (NDT) and Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) provide an interesting new twist to the maritime digitalization discussion, with the design, manufacture and delivery of an innovative 7MW data center housed on a refurbished 240-ft. deck barge. Jim Connaughton, CEO, NDT & Michael Complita, PE – VP Strategic Expansion, EBDG, discuss the strategic and environmental advantages as well as the future of housing massive computer banks on barges.When one says “Silicon Valley”, the first image to come to mind likely is not a barge.

The past decade has seen tight restrictions on emissions from vessels, notably with a 2015 move to a .10% sulfur maximum in Emission Control Areas (ECA) in North America and in northern Europe. As the International Maritime Organization (IMO) now shapes shipping’s decarbonization future, shipowners are looking at transitions away from fossil fuels. Among the myriad of alternatives are lithium ion batteries and some early forays into hydrogen fuel cells.To date, large batteries are used on short runs…