Page 49: of Marine News Magazine (November 2022)

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Feature

Great Vessels of 2022 his March, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Seab- to long transits to and from port facilities. We saw this op- ulk put into service its ? rst ever electric-hybrid erating pro? le as ideal to capitalize on hybrid technology tugboat, Spartan, built by Master Boat Build- for those long transits.” ers in Coden, Ala. The Robert Allan Ltd.-designed RApport 3000 vessel

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Seabulk has already seen good results from Spartan is 98 feet long with a beam of 43 feet and draft of 18.5 as the tug continues working in Port Arthur, Texas. The feet. Spartan is built to meet U.S. Coast Guard regulations electric-hybrid vessel serves as a stepping stone toward the and is classed through the American Bureau of Shipping ultimate goal of minimizing carbon emissions. Seabulk’s (ABS), with escort notation.

parent company SEACOR is a member of the Global Notably, the tug features a fully integrated hybrid pro-

Maritime Forum’s Getting to Zero Coalition, which aims pulsion plant from Berg Propulsion, supplied by Thomp- to decarbonize the shipping sector through zero carbon son Caterpillar, a key partner throughout the build project, technologies and sustainable alternative fuels. “One day according to both the vessel’s owner and its builder. we’re going to get there; and this hybrid propulsion sys- “They were huge partners of this, and we couldn’t have tem on Spartan allows us to evaluate the technologies in- done it without them,” said Garrett Rice, president at cluding electric motors as a foundation for the propulsion Master Boat Builders. “It’s one thing to have an electri- system,” explained Russ Jones, Director of Technical Ser- cal integrator or a dealer or partner come in and do the vices at Seabulk. jobs. It’s another thing to have somebody really go above “We evaluated the different power requirements for the and beyond and take ownership of the process, really work vessel, to ensure safe and ef? cient solutions for our cus- with us in the way that we work. We’ve been doing busi- tomers in the different ports that we operate in,” Jones ness with Thompson for 35 years, and they are in our yard said. “For Spartan working in Port Arthur, Texas is subject almost every day. And so having that synergy and under- stand the way we do business is really nice, and they did a really good job of working with us.”

The Spartan’s hybrid propulsion system utilizes two

ABB 560KW electric motors combined with the two

Caterpillar 3512E EPA Tier 4 main engines to power the

Berg MTA628 Azimuth thrusters. The electrical power for the AC motors comes from a pair of 565 KW C-18 and a 200 KW C-7.1 Caterpillar generators sets, provid- ing and respectively. In addition to its VS3 variable fre- quency drives with motors, and its own hybrid control system, Berg’s design, supply and integration includes the switchboard with full power management plus control of the Caterpillar main engines and gensets. Total installed horsepower is 6,881. Fuel ? ltration is provided by an

Off-line C.C. JENSEN system.

“We went into this project not expecting to see a sig- ni? cant fuel reduction from the hybrid technology that’s

The high-powered tug Spartan features a fully integrated hybrid propulsion plant from Berg Propulsion.

Berg Propulsion www.marinelink.com MN 49|