100% electric tugs delivered to SAAM Towage
SAAM Towage has joined the list of tug owners exploring all-electric tugs following delivery of two vessels from Turkey’s Sanmar Shipyards to join the Chile-based company’s Vancouver operation.
Built with the names Dynamo and Dynamo II, the tugs have been renamed Saam Volta and Chief Dan George respectively. Built to Sanmar-exclusive ElectRA 2300SX designs from Canadian naval architect Robert Allan, they provide 70 tons bollard pull from two Li-ion battery banks, making them 100% electric vessels.
With a length of just 23.4m they are described as “compact yet powerful” and will be charged using energy from the British Columbia power grid.
Sanmar’s global client base presents options when delivering its products to their new homes, including sailing under their own keel perhaps in the hands of professional ship delivery experts. Such was the case with the similar delivery of ElectRA tugs by Redwise Maritime Services from Turkey, also to Vancouver, for HaiSea Marine.
For SAAM Towage’s new pair of ElectRA tugs a different approach was required, however after successfully completing sea trials the vessels were loaded as deck cargo onto the general cargo vessel BBC Emerald.
Due to restrictions on the number of vessels using the Panama Canal, the journey, which took around 60 days, involved passage through the Strait of Magellan at the tip of South America.
ElectRA options
As the push for cleaner towage operations gathers pace, including the adoption of alternative fuels and battery power, individual operational requirements at different locations have led to a requirement for specific solutions suited just for that location and role.
For RAL, solving that conundrum has resulted in five ElectRA series tugs in its catalogue. These range from 21m in length and 50tbp to the 28m ElectRA 2800 version providing 80+tbp. The series includes a 26m LOA version built to a tractor configuration, each offering a distinctly different take on battery electric propulsion.
The ElectRA 2300 recognises that most battery electric tug applications will involve harbour operations, possibly with no requirement for overnight accommodation. Without this requirement this version features more than 3,500kWh of battery capacity in a flush deck design but maintaining some back-up diesel generator capacity.
SAAM Towage’s own literature on the pair says that two Caterpillar C32 diesel generators each produce 940kW and supply batteries with a total storage capacity of 3,616kWh. The batteries can be charged in 55 minutes with the tugs capable of achieving two vessel berthing and unberthing operations without charging.
Sanmar commercial director Ruchan Civgin said: “That major international operators such as SAAM Towage are investing in alternative eco-friendly power systems and technologies is a clear sign that our industry is changing, and changing for the better. At Sanmar we are proud to be at the forefront of that change.”
