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Hybrid propulsion installed on world’s first methanol-fuelled escort tugs
Two of the world’s first dual-fuel methanol escort tugs being built in a Turkish shipyard will have mechanical hybrid propulsion when completed in Q3 2025
Construction of two of the world’s first dual-fuel methanol escort tugs is progressing rapidly at Sanmar Shipyards, with mechanical hybrid propulsion being installed ready for their completion in Q3 2025.
These tugs – to be named SD Aisemaht and SD Qwiy Aanitsa Sarah – will be mobilised to British Columbia, western Canada when finished where they will escort laden crude oil tankers from the outer harbour limits of the Port of Vancouver to the open Pacific Ocean through the commercial shipping lanes of the Salish Sea.
Kotug Canada will employ them to support tankers calling at Trans Mountain oil terminal, which is the end point of a 1,180-km pipeline, carrying crude and refined products from Edmonton, Alberta.
Sanmar is building these 44-m escort tugs to Robert Allan Ltd’s RASalvor 4400-DFM design with methanol dual-fuel engines and Schottel’s Sydrive-M mechanical hybrid propulsion. This consists of two azimuth rudderpropellers of type SRP 710 that can be driven by just one of the two high-speed main engines on each tug. Each tug will have a bollard pull of around 120 tonnes.
“We are moving forward and implementing these newbuild green solutions to the Trans Mountain Expansion Project’s enhanced tug escort programme,” said Kotug Canada business development manager Laurens Korporaal.
“These tugs, propelled by modern climate-friendly Schottel propulsion systems, exhibit the aspirations of the British Columbia tug market to improve the environmental performance of shipping activity and advance new solutions to local and global environmental challenges.”
Propulsion has been designed for both transit efficiency and high bollard pull, with each tug having two SRP 710 azimuth drives and a Schottel transverse thruster of type STT 170.
“With this propulsion system, the vessels will achieve a free sailing speed of up to 14 knots and an impressive bollard pull of over 120 tonnes, making them the most powerful escort tugs in Canada,” said Schottel.
Schottel Sydrive-M will reduce fuel consumption and underwater-radiated noise, and lower engine operating hours and maintenance costs. In addition, hulls of both tugs are coated with a graphene paint to minimise biofouling and enhance the hull-smoothness of the vessels, which reduces underwater-radiant noise and makes the vessels more fuel efficient.
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