Low-emission tugboats to benefit LNG Canada project
The type ElectRa 2800 tug (Source: LNG Canada)
A new towage venture called HaiSea Marine has a contract from energy group LNG Canada to build and operate low-emission electric-/gas-powered escort and harbour tugs for the gas export terminal in Kitimat in Canada.
HaiSea Marine, a joint venture between Haisla Nation and North Vancouver-based Seaspan, will provide ship-assist and escort services to LNG carriers navigating Douglas Channel and approaches in Kitimat Harbour. The escort and harbour tugs are being designed by Vancouver-based naval architects and marine engineers Robert Allan.
Using battery-electric power and natural gas instead of diesel fuel, they are aimed to be very environment-friendly. The new type ElectRa 2800 tugs will be 28m in length, with a bollard pull of about 70 tonnes, and 5,240 kWh of battery capacity. The tugs will perform the majority of their ship-berthing and unberthing missions on battery power. The vessels will be able to recharge from dedicated shore charging facilities at their berths between jobs, effectively reducing emissions to near-zero. Because of their battery propulsion, they are also expected to be exceptionally quiet, both onboard and underwater.
