Washington boatbuilder unveils electric landing craft series

Tacoma, Washington-based Silverback Marine has launched a new series of landing craft featuring all-electric propulsion.

Each workboat in the series will have a length of 24 feet ( metres), a beam of 8.5 feet ( metres), and two Photon electric outboard engines. Also fitted are a fold-out dive ladder integrated in the bow door, HDPE fendering, side-mounted dive doors, and aft hull cutouts to facilitate access to and from the water more easily.

The landing craft can perform a range of duties such as transport of cargo and personnel, marine research, and towing of distressed vessels. Because the electric outboards will generate only minimal noise, the vessel can be operated in environmentally sensitive waters such as beaches and estuaries.

Silverback Marine said the new electric landing craft utilises a smaller variant of an existing vessel series developed by the Elliott Bay Design Group.