How can electric technology penetrate the maritime market? Here is a very original proposal with a tugboat that has its own batteries.
Taking into account the current situation of mobility, we can find how electric cars are gradually gaining a foothold in the market. Companies like Tesla, NIO, or the classic manufacturers of the industry, are making important efforts in this matter. Now, is this effort enough in the transition that developed economies are about to experience?
The truth is that no transformation is needed that also affects the marine environment and sustainable aviation. If on other occasions we have shown you how electrical technology can have a place in the industry, today we want to tell you about a product that can be a good starting point in marine mobility. Are tugs the product to open the way?
Tugboats can bring technology to this market in the short term for some time now, a new project has captured the attention of the specialized media. Developing a boat without diesel mechanics is difficult, but not impossible. The limitations of the technology are still a very strong barrier, but little by little resources are being provided capable of overcoming the limitations. The first fully-electric tug is the best example of this.
This type of product, with a very specific task, only emphasizes the multiple dynamic solutions offered by electrical innovation. It is, therefore, an interesting option of the important role that a proposal of these characteristics can develop in the medium and long term. Who knows if we are facing one of the differential means of transport of the future?
Here are, therefore, some of the keys that best define the proposal developed by the company Crowley Maritime Corp, why we are faced with a solution to meet a very specific need, and, of course, to what extent its function can be developed with the best of guarantees. Let’s see what its main qualities are.
A Purely Electric Tugboat For Key Performance
The first thing to note is that it is a ship that has a unique function, to serve as a tugboat when it sets sail for the first time in 2023. We are, therefore, before a proposal that is still in an early development phase. Even so, there are some definite aspects, such as the size of the battery or the way to propel the propellers that you have.
As you can read on the specialized portal Electrek, we are facing a very interesting project due, above all, to the incredible set of batteries that it will have when it is thrown away. In total, the batteries will have a global capacity of 6 MWh. In addition, there will be no trace of a conventional internal combustion engine to serve as support.
The total weight of the tugboat is expected to be 70 tons as is logical in a project of these characteristics, it will have a greater weight than any other alternative present in the sector. In fact, the weight of the entire assembly is expected to be around 70 tons. Following the general trend of what happens in the automobile industry, the vast majority of the tonnage will correspond to the disposition of the battery set itself.
At the level of artificial intelligence, this product is expected to have a set of solutions that allow the system to continuously learn. In this way, the safety and efficiency of the work to be carried out can be increased. This, in the medium term, will translate into greater productivity and, of course, a greater return on the benefits to be obtained.
A Medium-Term Objective is to Strengthen The Ecological Transition
We are in a most disruptive model. In this sense, this proposal will speed up a situation that seems to have no countdown. In relation to this project, what are the objectives that are expected to be achieved in the medium and long term? Your design company believes it can establish the records listed below. Will they get it?
The eWolf is a purely electric tugboat that can serve as the basis for the ecological transition. Jacksonville Business Journal
As can be read in the aforementioned portal, the purely electric tugboat expects to save the emission of up to 178 tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx), the consumption of up to 2.5 tons of diesel particulate matter, the reduction of 3,100 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), among others. Still, these are very optimistic numbers at the moment.
However, we will have to wait to see what happens over the next few years in relation to the development of this project. Its production is expected to be completed by 2023, but for the moment, it is pure guesswork. If its development is confirmed, we are facing a revolutionary moment within this sector.