The first electric tugs for SAAM Towage’s fleet are ready to sail from the Port of Tuzla, Turkey to Vancouver, where they will join the fleet operating in British Columbia.
SAAM Towage’s Engineering and Development Manager, Pablo Cáceres, noted that “we are one step closer to having our electric tugs operating, which for us represents the way to advance towards more sustainable operations and move our business into the future.”
The vessels have successfully completed their final seaworthiness trials and will soon be loaded onto the cargo ship BBC Emerald, a maneuver that requires two 400-ton cranes.
The tugs were purchased as part of an agreement between SAAM Towage, Teck and Neptune, companies with a shared value of caring for the environment, that opted for these vessels that will significantly reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) and underwater noise.
The ElectRA 2300SX was designed by Robert Allan and has an overall length of 23 meters and 70 tons of bollard pull. At full capacity, both units will reduce CO2 emissions by 2,600 metric tons a year.
They are powered by two Li-ion battery banks, making them 100% electric, zero-emission vessels, and they will be charged using clean energy from the British Columbia power grid.
Given the situation in the Panama Canal, they will travel to Canada via the Strait of Magellan, which will take about 60 days.
The company operates more than 20 tugs along Canada’s west coast at nine ports in British Columbia.
SAAM is an infrastructure company with more than 60 years in the business. It is the leading provider of port towage services in the Americas and third globally. It operates at more than 90 ports in 13 countries with a modern fleet of over 210 tugs. In addition, it offers air cargo logistics services at eight airports in Latin America.
(Photo from SAAM Towage)
