The latest in a rapidly increasing number of orders is a recently signed contract to provide Norway-headquartered marine services company Buksér og Berging with its first electric tugboat.

Based on the exclusive to SANMAR ElectRA 2200SX design from Canadian naval architects Robert Allan Ltd, the new-build tug, which is due to be delivered in November 2023, will join the Buksér og Berging tugs in the Port of Oslo.

This latest contract signing is another major step forward in SANMAR’s mission to lead the tug and towing industry to a more sustainable, environmentally-friendly, low and no-emissions future.

Ruchan Civgin, Commercial Director of SANMAR Shipyards, said: “We have seen a huge amount of interest in the ElectRA range as tug and towing operators around the world agree that action must be taken to protect the environment and combat climate change. What the advance technology of the ElectRA series of tugs does is to provide them with the means to make this change happen. The zero-emission ElectRA series is a game-changer in the world of ship-handling tugboats, not least in that these tugs’ green credentials have been achieved with no loss of power, performance, strength or versatility.

Here at SANMAR, we are proud to be able to use the skills and expertise we have honed and developed over approaching 50 years to provide Buksér og Berging with a such ground-breaking vessel from a series already hailed as ‘Tugs of the Future’ by industry experts.”

The ElectRA 2200SX will be the eighth tug SANMAR has delivered to Buksér og Berging from its custom-built, state-of-the-art shipyards in Türkiye. The operator has a well-deserved reputation for being environmentally-aware, with recent deliveries from SANMAR including the Tier lll emissions compliant sister escort tugs Bamse and Bob and in 2014 and 2015 Borgoy and Bokn, the world’s first two purely LNG-fuelled tugboats.

The new electric tug will have 22.4m LOA, with a moulded beam of 10.84m and moulded depth of 4.4m. Powered by 1.718 kWh of battery, 2 x 1.400 kW electrical motors and Schottel SRP 340 LE FP thrusters. It will achieve a bollard pull ahead of 45 tons and a speed of 11.8 knots. Caterpillar C32 IMO Tier lll switchable marine generator set will provide 940 eKW at 1.800 rev/min. Deck equipment will include a DMT TW-E250kN fore winch, Data Hidrolik DTH 50-120P tow hook, Palfinger PK11001MC deck crane and Data Hidrolik DTC 4000 EP-L rope reel. 

The tug will be built to ABS classifications A1, Towing vessel, +AMS, +ABCU, BP, ESS Li-Battery, UWILD.