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Dutch agency selects three consortia for emissions-free emergency towage tender
Dutch water agency, Rijkswaterstaat has selected three partners to deploy offshore charging stations and emergency towage vessels with onboard batteries and green-methanol generators
Three consortia incorporating Dutch shipowners are competing for a contract to provide three emergency response towing vessels (ERTVs) with electric-hybrid propulsion, energy storage systems and generators able to burn green methanol.
The bidders also need to provide associated charging infrastructure on land and at sea as part of the 25-year service to increase maritime safety in the North Sea, particularly to protect the growing forest of offshore windfarms in the Dutch sector.
The deadline to submit proposals to Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch government’s water management agency, under the Power2Tow tender is mid-2026.
During the tender process for this project, Smit Terminals Europe will work with Smit Salvage; Kotug International has teamed up with IHC Defence and Bluewater Energy Services; and Multraship Ocean Towage is involved with Damen Shipbuilding & Co-operation and Stillstrom.
Rijkswaterstaat is seeking newbuild ERTVs for long-term, environmentally sustainable emergency towage along the Dutch coast with vessels operating on batteries while on standby, charged regularly from offshore stations or shore.
ERTVs will switch from electric propulsion to sustainably sourced green methanol when called on to tow ships in distress to safe anchorages away from offshore windfarms.
Rijkswaterstaat expects this new generation of ERTVs to contribute to reducing the environmental footprint of shipping in the Netherlands. It said green methanol is a sustainable fuel that is produced from biomass or captured CO2, and it will also consider vessels able to use green hydrogen fuels.
Power2Tow is a joint initiative of Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the Directorate-General for Aviation and Maritime Affairs, the Ministry of Climate and Green Growth and the Dutch Coast Guard.
It combines the development of charging infrastructure in the North Sea and onshore to enable vessels to sail purely on batteries and electric propulsion.
However, this charging infrastructure is not yet available ready made on the market for the North Sea, so consortia need to develop their own technology and build these ERTVs.
“For Power2Tow to succeed, it is very important that we seek co-operation with shipyards, port companies, windfarms and other market parties such as technical developers and business service providers,” said Rijkswaterstaat director of the agency’s fleet renewal programme, Christa Kempenaar.
“We desperately need each other’s knowledge and innovative capacity to accelerate the sustainability of shipping.”
In 2026, the selected consortia will be expected to submit proposals for the offshore and onshore charging and newbuild ERTVs, and the associated services under the Power2Tow project.
In mid-2026, Rijkswaterstaat will select the winning consortium to progress into the research and development phase of this programme.
Power2Tow is carried out by the fleet renewal directorate of Rijkswaterstaat and is made possible in part by a substantial contribution from the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Plan.
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