Successful trials for Sanmar’s latest fully electric tug
Turkish shipbuilder Sanmar is building a tug destined to be the first fully electric one to operate in Latin America, specifically Chile.
Completion of sea trials for the first example of the series’ 25m variant marks another step in Sanmar’s progress with the development of its Robert Allan-designed ElectRA series of fully electric tugs.
It will be the third ElectRA class for Vancouver-based SAAM Towage and will operate in Chile as per a service agreement between SAAM and Empresa Nacional del Petróleo.
SAAM Towage is the largest provider of towage services in the Americas with the first two, Saam Volta and Chief Dan George, now in operation on the west coast of Canada.
This latest vessel, designated the Sanmar-exclusive Electra 2500SX, has an overall length of 25.4m on a beam of 12.86m and draught 5.6m. With a maximum battery capacity of 3,616kWh its performance figures include a respectable 70tbp and speed 12.5kn.
Sustainable future
Sanmar says it has taken a strategic decision to lead the tug and towing industry towards a sustainable future, based on low and no-emission tugs, ‘by using alternative fuels and innovative technological advances to protect the environment’.
Allowing for battery-powered tugs to be included in the ‘alternative fuel’ category, the all-electric option appears to be generating cautious interest and like other alternative fuels is demonstrating that the latest developments, battery capacity being an important consideration, can be a viable alternative to the traditional one-type-fits-all fuel option route.
In this regard, it is appearing that the type of operation in individual ports is an important consideration when deciding what road to go down for tug owners and operators considering fleet replacement or servicing new contracts.
Sanmar’s range of ell-electric tugs fall under the Robert Allan-designed ElectRA banner and is offered in five variants: 1900SX (40tbp), 2200SX (45tbp), 2300SX (70tbp), 2500SX (up to 70tbp) and 2800SX (up to 85tbp).
In 2024, Norway’s Bukser og Berging took delivery of the 22m variant BB Electra, while in the previous year SAAM’s two 23m vessels mentioned above were delivered. The 25m vessel, the focus of this article, is the first of the ElectRA 2500SX class.
Three notable deliveries in 2023 saw the 2800SX class vessels HaiSea Wami, HaiSea Wee’git and Haisea Brave delivered to Canada’s HaiSea Marine, a JV majority-owned by the Haisla Nation in partnership with Seaspan ULC in a contract with LNG Canada.
Performance is key to all-electric tugs, emphasised by Rüçhan Çıvgın, commercial director of Sanmar Shipyards.
“It was extremely important, when we were developing the ElectRA series with our partners Robert Allan and Corvus Energy, that the move to electricity and other alternative fuels should not come with any loss of power or performance,” he said.
“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.
