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TundRA ice-breaking tug design ordered in Sweden
Port of Skellefteå in Sweden will benefit from enhanced ice management capabilities, reduced winter downtime and improved safety for vessels operating in icy waters, when a newbuild ice-breaking tug is introduced in the next two years
Port of Skelleftea, Sweden, has contracted Robert Allan Ltd to provide naval architecture for a new 31-m ice-breaking tugboat with hybrid propulsion, which is needed to keep the harbour on the Gulf of Bothnia open year-round.
Robert Allan provided its TundRA 3100 design, which has undergone vigorous model testing in Canada to demonstrate its optimum hullform for operations in the extreme climate conditions and ice-infested waters.
Port of Skellefteå will benefit from enhanced ice management capabilities, reduced winter downtime and improved safety for vessels operating in icy waters.
This 495-gt tugboat will have a beam of 12.8 m, a navigational draught of 5.6 m, a bollard pull of 60 tonnes and accommodation for six crew.
It is designed to break ice efficiently; up to 1 m-thick ice at a speed of 2.5 knots ahead, using powerful propulsion and an advanced hull geometry.
A TundRA 3100 tug can also break 0.7-m-thick ice at a speed of 2.0 knots when heading astern.
Its propulsion will include two diesel engines and electrical battery energy storage providing energy to two electrically driven ice-capable azimuth propulsors with contra-rotating propellers, and a RIM-drive tunnel thruster enabling heading control during buoy-tendering/fairway management duties.
Some ship-assistance operations can be achieved on electrical battery power alone without engaging diesel engines to save fuel, cut emissions, and reduce maintenance costs.
During ice breaking and ship towage, batteries and engines would be engaged to provide maximum power to the contra-rotating propellers.
The tug will have a capacity to store 110 m3 of fuel oil and 10 m3 of potable water.
Robert Allan tested models of the TundRA 3100 design at the National Research Council of Canada’s Ocean, Coastal and River Engineering Research Centre in St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, in July 2023, to understand how its hull shape and interaction with propulsors affect performance in ice.
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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