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Electric for harbour tugs, methanol for ship escort
Newbuild tugs will exceed IMO Tier III emissions standards through SCRs, batteries and dual-fuel engines
The expansion of IMO’s emissions control areas into the Mediterranean, around North American coasts and around northern Europe has compelled shipyards to build tugboats that comply with IMO Tier III emissions standards for reducing NOx and particulates from exhausts.
In many cases, this involves installing selective catalytic reduction (SCR) units with urea tanks and associated pipework and ducting, but increasingly the sector is turning to dual-fuel engines and energy storage systems.
These construction trends can be seen at Sanmar Shipyards in Turkey, which has produced 14 battery-electric tugboats, the most by a single builder to date, two methanol dual-fuel escort tugs and at least four tugboats running on LNG.
Sanmar is building a 15th battery-electric tug and plans to start building more in H2 2026, all to an ElectRA design developed by Canadian naval architect Robert Allan Ltd.
According to Sanmar director of corporate strategy, Ipek Gurun, more ElectRA tugs will be coming in 2027. “We have delivered many electric tugs across Europe and the Americas, and production continues in line with new orders,” she told International Tug & Salvage.
“We are delivering two dual-fuel methanol escort tugs for Kotug Canada”
“Technology in the tug sector is developing rapidly. Electric tugs are equipped with high-capacity battery systems enabling full harbour operations on battery power and efficient charging between operations,” she said.
Future developments will focus on increasing energy density and the storage capacity of onboard batteries, reducing charging times and improving energy management systems. Sanmar’s latest ElectRA tugs each has energy storage of 5,085 kWh.
“While electric tugs are ideal for port operations, high-power escort operations require additional solutions, which his has led to the development of dual-fuel methanol and LNG systems,” said Ms Gurun.
Sanmar constructed the world’s first LNG-powered escort tugs – 2014-built Borgøy and Bokn – for Norwegian owner Buksér og Berging and in 2023 completed two for Haisea Marine – Haisea Kermode and Haisea Warrior.
The shipbuilder has completed two dual-fuel methanol escort tugs for Kotug Canada – SD Aisemaht and SD Qwii-Aasc Sarah – due to be delivered soon, although both were still in Turkey as of mid-April, according to automatic identification system information. They will operate as part of Kotug Canada’s long-term agreement at the Trans Mountain Pipeline Project in Canada.
These 44-m tugs are built to Robert Allan’s RASalvor 4400-DFM design, with around 120 tonnes of bollard pull and firefighting and oil-spill response equipment on board. They will provide long-range ship towing, anchor-handling, rescue and salvage.
Their propulsion includes twin methanol dual-fuel engines and Schottel’s Sydrive-M mechanical hybrid propulsion, consisting of two SRP 710 azimuth thrusters that can be driven by just one of the two high-speed main engines.
“They are capable of generating indirect steering forces of up to 185 tonnes, placing them among the highest-capacity escort tugs operating in Canada,” said Ms Gurun. “They are designed to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and underwater noise,” she said.
Of the other tugs being built by Sanmar, a majority will comply with IMO Tier III requirements to support operations in environmentally sensitive areas, and have bollard pulls of 70 to 80 tonnes.
Sanmar’s future newbuilds will also include offshore and escort tugs of between 28 m to 32 m and with 80 to 120 tonnes of bollard pull, to meet increasing performance demands and evolving operational profiles.
“The latest naval architecture enables compact harbour tugs to achieve high bollard pull, typically associated with larger escort-class vessels,” said Ms Gurun.
“Our project pipeline is mainly focused on tugs with low- and zero-emission technologies, but without compromising performance and operational safety, which remain key priorities,” she added.
Riviera’s 28th International Tug & Salvage Convention, Exhibition & Awards will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden, in association with Caterpillar, 19-21 May 2026. Use this link for more details of this industry event and the associated social and networking opportunities.
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