Florida-based marine company Crowley has taken delivery of eWolf, the first all-electric, ship-assist harbour tugboat in the US at the Port of San Diego, beginning the transition to zero-emissions ship handling in California.
eWolf was built by Master Boat Builders in Coden, Alabama, to deliver 70 tonnes of bollard pull from a fully integrated electrical package and battery system.
This 25m tugboat is supported by a new microgrid shoreside charging station in San Diego that enables eWolf to operate at full performance daily on electricity.
“eWolf is a historic milestone in the maritime industry and Crowley’s legacy. It underscores our company’s commitment to serve as global sustainability leaders and innovators,” says chairman and chief executive Tom Crowley.
“The all-electric tugboat is the most technologically advanced vessel of its kind and will help our customers and communities reach their decarbonisation goals.”
It has a Corvus Orca energy storage system rated at 6.2 MWh, and an ABB integrated electrical propulsion package to drive two 2,050-kW Schottel RudderPropellers of type SRP 430.
Port of San Diego chairman Frank Urtasun calls eWolf a game changer. “It checks all the boxes by providing environmental, economic and operational benefits for our communities and maritime industry,” he says.
This is part of the port’s electrification initiatives “including electric cargo handling equipment with our all-electric mobile harbour cranes, our microgrid, vessel shore power, and more.”
Based on US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data estimates, in its first 10 years of operation, eWolf will reduce NOx emissions by 178 tonnes, diesel particulate matter by 2.5 tonnes, and CO2 by 3,100 tonnes, compared with a conventionally powered tug, which would consume about 1.3M litres of marine diesel in that period.
