Two naval architects in the US have designed a fully electric tug that could be transported by lorry
Seattle, Washington state-headquartered Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) and Miller Marine of Deltaville, Viginia, have joined in the design and construction of a transportable tug with batteries and electrical propulsion.
This would be a multi-functional utility vessel, built for servicing marine construction sites, or tending dredges, manoeuvring buoys, or for short-range ferry operations and other near shore operations, such as crew transportation or line handling.
EBDG has taken an existing Miller Marine truckable tug design and added the batteries and electric propulsion in its naval architecture.
Once the design phase is complete, the first of these vessels is expected to be built by Miller Marine at its metal fabrication shop in Deltaville, Virginia on the US East Coast at the convergence of the Rappahannock River and Chesapeake Bay.
EBDG said the 7.9-m tug would be powered by two permanent magnet motors with a total power of more than 300 kW.
Batteries on board the tug will store energy, and the vessel will be recharged overnight from a shore-based facility. According to the manufacturers, a full charge for the vessel’s battery system should take less than eight hours.
On a full charge, this vessel should be capable of operating for more than 12 hours with remaining contingency power for safe return to the recharging point.
A closed-loop fluid cooling system will provide temperature control of the batteries, motors and electronics, enhancing safety and maximising theh units’ lifetimes.
EBDG said the configuration would be ideally suited for shallow and silty water operations, to support public agency and private enterprise marine construction operations and short-range logistics.
