Arc Expands Into the Commercial Sector With Electric Tugboat Retrofit

Arc Boat Company announced its entrance into the commercial sector. In partnership with a West Coast shipyard, Diversified Marine, Inc., Arc will retrofit a 26 ft tugboat for use in the Port of Los Angeles. 

The Port of Los Angeles is racing to be zero-emission by 2030, and yet is populated with antiquated tugboats that are expensive, inefficient, and highly polluting. With the first of many modern vessels that are more capable, cleaner, and built domestically, this workboat is a first step towards modernizing the busiest container port in the Western Hemisphere.

In recognition of the importance of shipbuilding, the U.S. government has announced a flurry of new incentives to revive domestic capacity, including the introduction of both a dedicated White House Office of Shipbuilding and tax incentives for domestic ship yards. Arc’s first step in electrifying workboats has the power to not only create maritime jobs but also ignite an export industry. Historically, U.S.-built diesel boats have been substantially more expensive to create than foreign-built vessels, making them nearly impossible to sell overseas. 

“Tugboats are a cornerstone of the economy that enable cargo ships to operate at ports,” said Kofi Asante, VP of Business Development at Arc. “The short, but high power requirements of a tugboat make it a great fit for electrification which can drive efficiencies at the port.” 

Arc’s Los Angeles headquarters is set up to design, build, and integrate modern vessels. Arc is now underway on its first commercial vessel, a truckable tugboat that hardens the underlying technology, before proceeding with work on larger vessels later this year.