The initial phase of building world’s first pair of methanol-powered escort tugs for Kotug Canada’s tanker assistance operations in British Columbia, Canada, has commenced, according to Sanmar.
Based on the RAsalvor 4400-DFM design from Canadian naval architects Robert Allan Ltd, the two revolutionary new tugs will service Canada’s Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMEP), escorting tankers from the harbour limits of the Port of Vancouver to the open Pacific Ocean through the commercial shipping lanes of the Salish Sea.
Kotug has partnered with Sc’ianew First Nation from Beecher Bay, which is strategically located along the shipping route from Vancouver, to provide the service, and the tugs being built at Sanmar’s state-of-the-art purpose-built shipyards in Turkiye will be called SD AISEMAHT and SD QWII-AAN’C SARAH in honour of the Sc’ianew First Nation.
World’s first pair of methanol-powered escort tugs scheduled to enter service in 2025, they will be the most powerful escort tugs in Canada, capable of achieving a massive 120 tonnes of bollard pull, while also providing significant environmental benefits, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and underwater radiated noise -protecting the Salish Sea’s resident Killer Whales.
This is another milestone in our journey to a more environmentally-friendly tug and towing industry where protecting our planet is at the centre of all we do. This project is also another example of our strategy ofachieving our green goals through innovation, alternative fuels, and technological advance.
..Ipek Gurun, Corporate Strategy Director Sanmar Shipyards, said.
