Armon builds tugs for Panama Canal, Remolques Unidos

Armon Shipyards is building several tugboats for two owners in 2025, with the first now completed and bound for delivery.

Panama Canal Authority has ordered a series of tugboats with batteries installed to assist main engines driving azimuth thrusters in hybrid propulsion systems.

Armon Shipyards completed the first of these in Navia, Spain Q1 2025 and it set sail from these facilities at the end of March. Tugboat Isla Barro Colorado undertook sea trials in the Navia estuary and was docked at the Port of Gijón until 24 April, when it left for its transatlantic crossing to Panama, according to automatic identification system (AIS) information.

This 29-m tractor tug has hybrid propulsion to reduce the amount of CO2 emitted from its two diesel main engines during transits and mobilisations. It has a beam of 14 m and a maximum draught of just over 6 m, enabling access to tight spaces with limited depths in the ports.

Isla Barro Colorado is equipped with two 2,331-kW engines, supported by a 445-kW battery pack, to drive two thrusters and generate a bollard pull of 80 tonnes. It also has a FiFi1 system for fighting fires and enhanced accommodation for its crew.

Nine more of these tugs are under construction or on order at the Spanish shipbuilder for the Panama Canal Authority. Armon Shipyards is preparing the next two in this series, Isla Bastimento and Isla Boná, for delivery to the Panama Canal Authority in H2 2025.

These hybrid-electric tugs will enable the Panama Canal Authority to reduce its reliance on chartered in tugboats, increase the energy efficiency of its operations and reduce emissions from ship handling.