VESSEL REVIEW | HaiSea Wamis – Electric tug to support Canada’s LNG export activities

Canadian towage company HaiSea Marine, a joint venture business formed by the Haisla Nation of British Columbia and local shipping line Seaspan, has taken delivery of the first in a new series of three all-electric tugs designed for the same owner by naval architecture firm Robert Allan Ltd (RAL). Named HaiSea Wamis, the tug will be used primarily to provide escort and berthing/unberthing assistance for LNG carriers that call at the Kitimat gas export facility operated by LNG Canada.

The new tug has a length of 28.4 metres, a moulded beam of 13.4 metres, a moulded depth of 5.6 metres, a gross tonnage of 472, and a Corvus Orca Energy battery with a capacity of 5,288 kWh. The battery has shore charging capability – allowing the tug to draw power from the local hydroelectric grid in Kitimat – and drives two Schottel 2,100kW drives connected to 2,600mm four-bladed propellers to deliver a bollard pull of 70 tonnes.

The use of low-noise, all-electric propulsion was selected for HaiSea Wamis and its two sisters as their area of operations is within traditional Haisla Nation territory, which is also an environmentally sensitive portion of the northern BC coast. Charging the tug’s battery from zero to full capacity can be completed in as little as four hours, enabling the tug to complete multiple trips in one day.

Other key features on the tug are two firefighting monitors mounted just outside the wheelhouse and a Palfinger Marine knuckle boom crane fitted on the aft deck. The wheelhouse itself provides a full 360 degrees of visibility for improved situational awareness when navigating the busy waters of LNG Canada’s Kitimat export facility.

HaiSea Wamis and sister tugs HaiSea Wee’git and HaiSea Brave are built in compliance to American Bureau of Shipping class rules.

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