Turkey’s Sanmar has delivered the first of two LNG-powered tugs to Canada’s HaiSea Marine, a joint venture majority owned by the Haisla Nation and partner Seaspan ULC. This tug will serve the Shell-led LNG Canada project.
Sanmar claims HaiSea Kermode is Canada’s first LNG-fueled tug.
The shipbuilder said the tug will soon be joined by its sister tug HaiSea Warrior to form a fleet of five with three Sanmar-built electric-powered ElectRA tugs.
All of these five tugs will serve LNG Canada.
Sanmar recently delivered HaiSea Brave, the third and final electric tug to the JV.
HaiSea Kermode and its siter vessel can run on diesel or LNG, and feature a diesel exhaust after-treatment system that complies with IMO Tier III emissions standards, it said.
Moreover, Sanmar said that a “major advance towards sustainability” lies in the tug’s ability to perform long-distance escort missions solely using LNG.
Based on the RAstar 4000 DF design from Vancouver-based naval architects Robert Allan, the two LNG-powered ASD tugboats have 40.20 m in length, a maximum draft of 7.10 m, and with more than 100 tonnes of bollard pull.
These tugs will generate indirect escort forces of about 200 tonnes, Sanmar said.
LNG Canada
Construction of the tug berth facility started in early 2023 and is scheduled to be fully completed in early 2024, LNG Canada previously said.
LNG Canada said the new tug berth is essential to operation of the escort tugs and harbor tugs that will provide ship-assist and escort towing services to LNG carriers calling at LNG Canada’s export facility.
The first phase of the giant LNG Canada project includes building two liquefaction trains with a capacity of 14 mtpa in Kitimat.
The construction of the plant was about 85 percent complete in July and during the same month it completed LNG tank hydro testing at the project site in Kitimat.
Shell and its partners in the project expect to deliver the first cargo by the middle of this decade, and they are also evaluating the second phase of the project.
Other partners include Malaysia’s Petronas, PetroChina, Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation, and South Korea’s Kogas.