HaiSea Marine Limited Partnership, majority owned by the Haisla Nation in partnership with the Canadian Seaspan group, has begun an innovative battery-powered and low emissions tugboat build programme, intended to be among the greenest tugboat fleets in the world and which will provide ship-assist and escort towing services to LNG carriers calling at LNG Canada’s new export facility in Kitimat in the unceded traditional territory of the Haisla Nation.
HaiSea Marine has a major contract with LNG Canada to build and operate escort and harbour tugs required for the export facility in Kitimat. With an ample supply of clean hydroelectric power available in Kitimat, the harbour tugs will be able to recharge from dedicated shore charging facilities at their berths between dockings, effectively resulting in near-zero emissions when running on batteries. GHG emissions from the new tugs are expected to be significantly lower (54% and 24% respectively) than diesel powered alternatives.
The new fleet of tugs will consist of two RAstar 4000-DF escort dual fuel (LNG and diesel) tugs and three ElectRA 2800 electric harbour tugs. Designed by Vancouver BC-based naval architect company, Robert Allan Ltd (RAL), the tugs will be constructed at Sanmar following a comprehensive RFP process built around stringent green marine specifications. The new fleet of tugs is scheduled to arrive in British Columbia in 2023.
The RAstar 4000-DF escort tugs will measure 40m in length, and with 100t of bollard pull will be the west coast of Canada’s most powerful escort tugs – and among the world’s most high-performance escort tugs – with the ability to generate indirect forces in escort of approximately 200t. In addition, the escort tugs will feature an exhaust after-treatment system in full compliance with IMO Tier III emissions standards.
The ElectRA 2800 harbour tugs that will operate in tandem at LNG Canada’s new export facility will be first-of-class battery electric tugs, designed to perform their regular ship-berthing and unberthing missions using battery electric power. The ElectRA 2800 harbour tugs will be 28m length, with approximately 70t bollard pull and about 5240kWh of battery capacity.
