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First ElectRA battery-powered tug arrives in Canada
Redwise delivered the first full-electric tug to Vancouver, Canada, following its construction by Sanmar Shipyards in Turkey
HaiSea Wamis is the first of a new fleet of tugs Sanmar is building for Haisea Marine, a partnership of the Haisla Nation and Seaspan ULC. It arrived in British Columbia at the start of July heralding the beginning of a new era of low-emissions ship handling in western Canada.
Haisea Marine will operate three electric-hybrid tugs and two dual-fuel escort tugs at LNG Canada’s new export facility in Kitimat, British Columbia.
HaiSea Wamis and its sister tugs HaiSea Wee’Git and HaiSea Brave were built to Robert Allen ElectRA 2800 design with an overall length of 28 m and a battery capacity of 6.1 kWh to drive two azimuth thrusters at the stern, for bollard pull up to 70 tonnes.
Redwise sailed HaiSea Wamis from Turkey to Vancouver with pit-stops in Ceuta, Tenerife and Martinique, a Panama Canal transit and a stop at Long Beach, California for bunkers.
After a 56-day voyage covering more than 10,800 nautical miles, this vessel safely arrived in Vancouver, Canada.
HaiSea Wamis was voted by the industry as ITS Tug of the Year 2023 for its considerable onboard energy storage system and other power and design innovations during TUGTECHNOLOGY ’23 event in Rotterdam, in May.
The onboard Corvus Energy-supplied batteries enable HaiSea Wamis to accomplish all its operations solely on battery power.
At the Kitimat terminal, it will manoeuvre, berth and undock LNG carriers using batteries, which can be recharged from the dedicated shore-charging facilities at its berth in Kitimat in-between jobs.
This tug, and the two similar vessels, will operate with zero emissions, contributing to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly maritime industry and terminal operation.
For the delivery voyage, a combination of battery and generator power was used in a hybrid mode due to the short range of the batteries and lack of recharging facilities along the route.
Redwise used its experience and knowledge of tug operations and using batteries during the voyage. It has achieved other notable tug delivery voyages in 2023, including delivery of the first dual-fuel, hydrogen-powered tug Hydrotug 1 from Spain to Belgium.
The voyage of HaiSea Wamis coincided with having five complete Redwise crews on five delivery voyages of five newbuild tugs from the biggest tug building yards.
These five tugs are being delivered simultaneously under their own power. In alphabetical order, Redwise is sailing on their maiden voyage Damen-built and designed Al Mirfa to Abu Dhabi, HaiSea Wamis, Cheoy Lee Shipyard-built Kambarage to Tanzania, Med Marine’s Motagua to the Caribbean, Uzmar-built Svitzer Elizabeth to the Port of Liverpool, UK and manning Hydrotug 1 during extended commissioning works of the hydrogen systems.
Riviera Maritime Media’s Maritime Hybrid, Electric & Hydrogen Fuel Cells Conference will be held 17-19 October 2023 in Bergen, Norway. Use this link for further information and to register your interest
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