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Construction begins on all-electric tugboat in China
A Chinese shipyard is constructing a battery-electric tugboat for a new series with a design from a Canadian naval architecture group
Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard has started constructing a fully electric tugboat in China to support Tianjin Port’s drive to minimise emissions from ship towage, handling and dockings.
The Jiangsu Province shipyard is building battery-powered, smart vessels in this project and aims to set a new benchmark for battery capacity among tugs under 500 gt.
Zhenjiang Shipyard is using Robert Allan Ltd’s AmpRA design for Tianjin Port Towing’s tug and China Classification Society (CCS) to ensure it meets notations for advanced machinery systems.
It held a steel-cutting ceremony for this electric-powered tugboat on 9 September 2025 which was attended by executives for Tianjin Port.
This will be the first AmpRA series tug developed by Robert Allan for operation in China, and will have a battery system with 7,315 kWh of energy storage. It will also have CCS smart ship notations: i-Ship(M) for advanced machinery systems, i-Ship(E) for energy efficiency, i-Ship(I) for integrated platform capabilities, and i-Ship(T) for towing operations.
Also in September, Zhenjiang Shipyard launched three tugboats for Chinese owners and started preparing them for delivery in Q4 2025.
On 30 September, the shipbuilder launched Chengang Tuo 7, a tugboat with azimuth stern drive (ASD) propulsion and 3,676 kW of installed power coming from twin diesel four-stroke engines, for Jiangyin Chengang Tug Shipping Co.
This followed the lift-launch of ASD tug Tai Gang Tuo 18, with 4,854 kW of power for Taicang Port Changhai Shipping Co on 28 September.
On 8 September, Zhenjiang Shipyard launched Yick Tug 112, which will be part of a fifth batch of vessels it is building for COSCO Shipping Bulk Cargo Transportation Co. When completed, these will support the export of bauxite from mining in Guinea, in West Africa.
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