Thruster and propeller manufacturers have secured orders for some of the most innovative tugs to be built in a decade
In the latest contract awards, Kongsberg Maritime announced in January 2022 it has won an order to supply thrusters to Sanmar Shipyards for a series of azimuth stern drive (ASD) tugboats.
In total, Kongsberg will supply several of its thruster units with fixed-pitch propellers, including two for the first methanol-powered harbour tug Sanmar is preparing to build.
Kongsberg will deliver US205FP and US255FP thruster units to be installed on tugs designed by Robert Allan Ltd (RAL) over the next two years. Two of these US205S FP azimuth thrusters will be installed on a RAL-designed TRAnsverse tug for Svitzer, a carbon-neutral, methanol fuel-cell vessel with 60 tonnes of bollard pull.
For this project, Kongsberg adapted its azimuth thruster to generate higher steering forces than other tugs of a similar size. Svitzer says this tug can push, pull and manoeuvre in all directions.
Kongsberg deployed high-performance gear and increased the thrusters’ speed by 5 rpm to enhance reactivity and manoeuvrability. US205S FP thrusters will be equipped with integrated HD clutches.
Schottel won a contract to provide two RudderPropellers for the first all-electric tug to be built and operated in the US. This is being built at Master Boat Builders’ shipyard in Coden, Alabama for Crowley.
25-m tug e-Wolf is scheduled to enter operations at the Port of San Diego in California by mid-2023. It will have two Schottel SRP 430 embedded L-drives and a MariHub data gateway and monitoring solution.
The SRP 430 LE drives will be electrically driven with power input of 2,050 kW each, with propeller diameters of 2.5 m and will help the vessel achieve a bollard pull of 70 tonnes.
In another project, Marine Propulsion Solutions Group secured a contract to provide azimuth deck-mounted propulsion systems for a river tugboat being built to transport goods by river in South Sudan.
This river tugboat was designed by Cochin, India-headquartered Global Maritime Consultants Group, with an overall length of 27 m and total power of 2,000 kW for Ezra Construction & Development Group.
Classification society ABS has approved this design for a shallow-draught tugboat, which will have Caterpillar-manufactured Cat 18C series diesel engines.
MPS will supply four of its model MRP4500M azimuth deck-mounted propulsion units, each rated at 500 kW. These have propellers that can be tilted upwards up to 75° and depth adjustment control for shallow-water operations.
MPS says this order is for one tugboat, which is the lead unit of what could become a five-vessel newbuilding series. MPS Group manufactures thrusters and propulsion systems, including deck-mounted electric, direct-mechanical and hydraulic-rotatable propulsion units for marine applications in Batam, Indonesia. MPS’ sales office is in Singapore.
MPS supplies complete electric-thruster propulsion systems and components for all types of vessels with a power range from 75 kW to 3,500 kW.
Meanwhile, electric propulsion supplier ePropulsion has expanded in Asia by appointing two new distributors. Gyeonggi-do, South Korea-headquartered Badaro and Phuket, Thailand-based Motorium will distribute ePropulsion in the growing market in Asia.
Steerprop strengthened its presence in China and southeast Asia by appointing two propulsion and vessel engineering experts. Ayhwa Ngoh was hired as regional sales manager in Singapore and Robbie Wang as general manager of sales in China.
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