Third electric tug for Canada’s LNG export facility delivered to HaiSea Marine
Third electric tug for Canada's LNG export facility delivered to HaiSea Marine - Offshore Energy
Third electric tug for Canada’s LNG export facility delivered to HaiSea Marine
Türkiye’s Sanmar Shipyard has delivered the third battery electric tug for LNG Canada’s export facility in Kitimat to Canada’s HaiSea Marine, a joint venture majority-owned by the Haisla Nation in partnership with Seaspan ULC.
The tug named HaiSea Brave is joining its sister vessels HaiSea Wamis and HaiSea Wee’git, which were delivered earlier this year. The tugs will work in Vancouver before all three, along with two Sanmar-built LNG-fueled tugs, are transferred to LNG Canada’s new export facility in Kitimat, British Columbia.
The tugs are built on the exclusive-to-Sanmar ElectRA 2800 SX design by Canadian naval architects Robert Allan. With approximately 70 tonnes of bollard pull, a top speed of 12 knots, and 6.000 kWh of battery capacity, they will be able to perform all ship-berthing and unberthing missions on battery power alone.
The harbor tugs will also be able to recharge from dedicated shore charging facilities at their berths between jobs, effectively resulting in zero emissions, Sanmar said.
When completed, the Shell-led LNG Canada project will consist of a natural gas receiving and LNG production unit, a marine terminal with the capacity to accommodate two LNG carriers, a tugboat dock, and LNG loading lines. It will also include LNG processing units, storage tanks, a rail yard, a water treatment facility, and flare stacks.
Its production capacity is planned at 14 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) from the first two trains, with the potential to expand to four trains in the future. The first shipment of LNG is scheduled for mid-decade.
Related Knowledge Center: Liquefied natural gas
Driven by plentiful natural gas produced from shale plays, the United States began exporting liquefied natural gas in 2016 when the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana opened and shipped its first cargo. Since then, additional capacity, or trains, have been added to Sabine Pass, and terminals have become operational in Cameron Parish, La.; Hackberry, La.; Cove Point, Md.; and Corpus Christi, Texas. The Energy Information Administration projects that U.S. LNG export capacity will reach 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by the end of 2019, making it the third largest in the world, behind Australia and Qatar. The tariff war with China has the potential to impact some final investment decisions for additional terminals in the coming months.