Sea trials for third SAAM electric tugboat

When delivered, the vessel will become the first fully-electric tugboat to operate in Latin America and the eighth fully-electric tugboat Sanmar Shipyards has built.

“Electric-powered tugs represent the way to advance towards more sustainable operations and move our business into the future,” said Pablo Cáceres, sustainability and development director, SAAM Towage.

Exclusive design

SAAM Towage, which is the largest provider of towage services in the Americas, already operates two emissions-free ElectRAs – SAAM Volta and Chief Dan George, on the west coast of Canada.

This latest tug is again based on the ElectRA 2500SX design from Canadian naval architects Robert Allan Ltd.

With an overall length of 25.4m, beam of 12.86m, draft of 5.6m and maximum battery capacity of 3,616 kWh, it can achieve a bollard pull of at least 70 tonnes and a speed of 12.5 knots.

For Sanmar, its been important to get the tug’s performance right and balance that with the strategic decision to lead the tug and towing industry towards a sustainable future, based on low and no-emission tugs.

“It was extremely important when we were developing the ElectRA Series with our partners Robert Allan Ltd and Corvus Energy, that the move to electricity and other alternative fuels should not come with any loss of power or performance,” said Rüçhan Çıvgın, commercial director of Sanmar Shipyards.

Six more fully-electric tugboats are also under construction at the shipyard in Tuzla, Istanbul.