Asia’s first e-tug planned

Based on the E-Volt Electric Tug design by SeaTech, the 24-metre e-tug will be driven by an electric battery system provided by Canada-based Shift and equipped with azimuth propulsion. It will have a bollard pull in excess of 60 tonnes with service speed of over 12 knots.

A key feature of this project is the addition of a value-added onshore charging infrastructure which allows any client to seamlessly integrate this vessel into their existing port operations. The digitisation platform installed on the e-tug – from its battery management system to auxiliary equipment systems – will enable the end-user to remotely monitor and optimize the vessel’s operational efficiency.

Once operational, the e-tug will reduce at least 150 tons of NOx and 2,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually compared to a conventional tug. This is equivalent to removing 500 typical passenger vehicles from the road.

The e-tug’s battery design adheres to the ABS “Guide for Use of Lithium Batteries in the Marine and Offshore Industries” and the ABS “Guide for Hybrid Electric Power Systems for Marine and Offshore Applications”.

Last year, Kotug International and Shift Clean Energy teamed up to use Shift’s new PwrSwäp clean energy service – which uses swappable batteries on a pay-as-you-go basis – on Kotug’s E-Pusher vessels. KOTUG will deploy a KOTUG E-Pusher type M and four barges for zero-emission barging of cocoa beans from Cargill between the Port of Amsterdam, the largest cocoa import port in the world, and their cacao facilities in Zaandam.