Sanmar Delivers Second Electric Tug for Western Canada

Turkey's Sanmar Shipyards announced it has delivered a second electric-powered tug to HaiSea Marine in Canada.

The newly built HaiSea Wee’git and its sister HaiSea Wamis, delivered earlier this year, will provide harbor and escort tugboat services to tankers calling at LNG Canada’s new export facility in Kitimat, British Columbia. A third electric tug, HaiSea Brave,  is scheduled to be delivered later this year.

The 28.4-meter-long tugs are based on the exclusive-to-Sanmar ElectRA 2800SX design from Vancouver-headquartered naval architects, Robert Allan Ltd. With approximately 70 tonnes bollard pull, a top speed of 12 knots and 6,000 kWh of battery capacity, each will perform all ship-berthing and unberthing missions on battery power alone. Each is equipped with Corvus Orca Energy ESS.

Taking advantage of the clean hydroelectric power available in Kitimat, the vessels will be able to recharge from dedicated shore charging facilities at its berth between jobs, effectively resulting in zero emissions. The ABS-classed electric harbor tugs are also exceptionally quiet, both onboard and in terms of underwater radiated noise, further enhancing the protection of both marine and wildlife in the area.

In addition to the electric tugs, HaiSea Marine—a joint venture majority owned by the Haisla Nation in partnership with Seaspan ULC—will operate two Sanmar-built dual-fuel escort tugs capable of running on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and diesel. HaiSea’s green tug fleet is expected to reduce emissions of CO2 by approximately 10,000 tonnes per annum compared to diesel powered alternatives, with major reductions of NOX, SOX, CO, and particulate matter as well. 

Ali Gurun, chairman of Sanmar Shipyards, said, “The delivery of HaiSea Wee’git is another marker along the road to a sustainable, environmentally-friendly tug and towing industry. The importance of the delivery of these game-changing tugs to our entire industry cannot be over-estimated. Emissions-free harbour tugs are no longer just a dream. At Sanmar, we are delighted to be at the forefront of this change. As you can imagine, we have had a lot of interest in the ElectRA series from operators around the world.”

Sanmar will deliver a further four ElectRA Series this year. Two will be delivered to South America operator SAAM Towage, one to Bukser og Berging in Norway and one to Sanmar’s own fleet in Türkiye.