Campbell Foss will become the next Foss ‘Hybrid’ – By Jack Gaston

Building on the success of Foss’ Carolyn Dorothy hybrid tug, which was launched into service at the Port of Long Beach in 2009, Foss will retrofit an existing tug with hybrid technology for service in San Pedro Bay, thanks to the help of an air quality grant from the Port of Long Beach.

The vessel to be converted is the Campbell Foss, one of a number of ‘Dolphin’ class tugs of the same basic design as the Carolyn Dorothy but with conventional diesel ASD propulsion systems.

Campbell Foss is a vessel of 23.77m in length overall, powered by Caterpillar 3512B HD main engines producing a total of 5,080bhp to drive a pair of Rolls-Royce 205FP fully azimuthing propulsion units. With this propulsion system the Campbell Foss and its sisters had a maximum bollard pull of 65 tons.

Foss will refit the tug at their shipyard in Rainier, Oregon. The conversion will include installing smaller main engines, motor-generators, batteries and a complete power management system.

The grant of $1m to enable the conversion to go ahead was made by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) through the Port of Long Beach. The project will be implemented through a partnership between Foss, the Port of Long Beach, and the Port of Los Angeles.

The goal is to achieve significant reductions in pollution emissions while enhancing fuel efficiency and operational capability. More than 100,000 gallons of diesel fuel will be saved each year and the projected annual emissions reductions per year are as follows:
• More than 1.7 tons of diesel particulate matter
• More than 53 tons of oxides of nitrogen
• More than 1.2 tons of reactive organic gases
• More than 1,340 tons of carbon dioxide

Foss Maritime’s Vice President of Environmental and Governmental Affairs, Susan Hayman, said Foss has been looking forward to an opportunity to retrofit one of its existing tugs to work alongside the Carolyn Dorothy and plans to introduce more hybrid tugs in the years to come.