Construction starts on US hybrid-electric tug fleet 

Curtin Maritime has taken another step towards operating a fleet of hybrid-electric tugs in Californian ports, after ordering eight from Snow & Co’s Seattle shipyard in Washington state, USA, in a US$160M contract.

At the end of 2025, Snow & Co started assembling steel modules for the hull on the first of these eight tugboats, marking the beginning of their construction. Each tugboat is designed by Arc Group, with energy storage systems and generators driving azimuth thrusters.

They will each have 19 modules, including the hull sections, battery room and deckhouse, built separately before being joined together. 2,980 kW of power and 60 tonnes of bollard pull will provide the power to handle, as a fleet, ultra-large container ships and other vessels in the Californian ports.

Propulsion systems have been designed around the vertically integrated electric powertrain technology Arc has developed for its hybrid-electric Arc Sport and Arc Coast tugs, which can be transported on lorries.

“Once the structure is complete, Arc’s electric powertrain will bring the boat to life, engineered for real port duty cycles,” said Arc in a social media post on LinkedIn.

Curtin expects to deploy these electric-powered tugs in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, with the first scheduled to enter service in 2027.

They were ordered in September 2025 as part of a strategic drive to cut emissions from marine services in Californian ports.