SCHOTTEL will deliver a total of ten rudder propellers and two transverse thrusters to Turkish Sanmar Shipyards. These will be installed in two LNG-fuelled escort tugs, as well as in three battery-powered harbour tugs. Ordered by Canadian HaiSea Marine, a partnership between the Haisla Nation and Seaspan ULC, the vessels will provide ship assist and towing services to LNG carriers stopping at a new LNG export facility in Kitimat, British Columbia. All five tugs are scheduled to enter service in 2023.
Captain Jordan Pechie, Senior Project Manager at HaiSea Marine: “Choosing SCHOTTEL as our propulsion supplier brings us one step closer to delivering on the promise we made to the Haisla Nation. These vessels represent the future; both quality and longevity are key. Every component on these vessels was carefully selected to ensure that this project will be generational.”
Hakan Tunç, Procurement Manager at Sanmar: “The collaboration between Sanmar and SCHOTTEL dates back to 2004. Since then we have equipped many of our state-of-the-art vessels with quality propulsion solutions from SCHOTTEL. These new projects are taking the cooperation between Sanmar and SCHOTTEL to a new level.”
The fleet will consist of two RAstar 4000-DF dual-fuel (LNG and diesel) escort tugs and three ElectRA 2800 electric harbour tugs. Designed by Robert Allan Ltd. (RAL), the LNG tugs will be built in Sanmar Shipyards Altinova while the electric tugs will be built in Sanmar Shipyards Tuzla.
RAstar 4000-DF: two SRP 610 CP and one STT 170
Each of the two dual-fuel escort tugs will be equipped with two SCHOTTEL RudderPropellers type SRP 610 CP featuring an input power of 3,000 kW with a propeller diameter of 3.2 m. To further enhance manoeuvrability, each vessel will be fitted with a SCHOTTEL TransverseThruster type STT 170 (250 kW).
Measuring 40 m in length and providing around 100 t of bollard pull, they will be the most powerful escort tugs on Canada’s west coast. In addition, they will feature an exhaust after-treatment system in full compliance with IMO Tier III emissions standards.
ElectRA 2800: two SCD 460
Each of the three battery electric tugs will be propelled by two SCHOTTEL CombiDrives type SCD 460 (2,100 kW each) with four-bladed propellers with a diameter of 2.6 m. This thruster setup enables the harbour tugs to achieve a bollard pull of approximately 70 t.
The ElectRA 2800 harbour tugs will operate in unison at a new LNG export facility and will be “first-of-their-class” battery-powered electric tugs. They are designed to perform their regular ship-berthing and unberthing missions using on battery power with a capacity of around 5,240 kWh. The ElectRA 2800 harbour tugs will be 28 m in length.
Near-zero emissions
With an ample supply of clean hydroelectric power available at 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.