New Hybrid Icebreaking Tug from Robert Allan Ltd. for the Port of Lulea

June 2, 2017

After a rigorous selection process, Robert Allan Ltd. has been chosen to design a high- performance icebreaking escort tug for the Port of Lulea, Sweden. The design will be fully customized for the Port’s operational requirements, including icebreaking, ice management, escort, ship-assist, coastal towing, fire-fighting and navigation aids service duties. Special consideration will be made for operation in the extreme climate conditions and ice-infested waters of the northern Gulf of Bothnia.

The vessel will be a TundRA 3600 class tug, designed as a compact icebreaker capable of breaking ice with a thickness of 1 metre at a speed of 3 knots. The hull structure will be designed in excess of Finnish-Swedish Ice Class Rules to ensure safety during icebreaking operations.

The vessel will be equipped with an innovative hybrid propulsion system featuring diesel main engines, shaft motor/generators, and electrical battery energy storage. This configuration allows effective power and fuel consumption management. The tug will be capable of operating on the electrical battery power only or utilizing a single main engine in the hybrid diesel-electrical mode with a bollard pull up to 55 tonnes, or on two main engines in diesel-mechanical mode with possible battery boost. The resulting operational flexibility will yield significant fuel, emissions and maintenance savings. At the same time, the tug will be the most powerful icebreaking escort tug of this size in the world with hybrid/electrical propulsion.

The preliminary particulars of the TundRA 3600 are as follows:

  • Length overall: 36.0 m
  • Breadth, moulded: 13.0 m
  • Depth, least moulded: 6.7 m
  • Draft, Navigational: 7.0 m
  • Propulsion Power (Diesel/Mechanical): 2 x 2,720 kW
  • Propulsion Power (Hybrid Boost Mode): 2 x 3,100 kW
  • Bollard Pull (Continuous): 90 tonnes
  • Bollard Pull (Intermittent): 100 tonnes
  • Accommodation: up to 10 persons

Class Notation:

  • LR ✠ 100A1 Escort Tug, ✠ LMC, UMS, Fire-Fighting 1
  • Ice Class 1A Super FS, “Icebreaker”

For further info on the TundRA class icebreaking tugs or any other high-performance vessel designs from Robert Allan Ltd., please see www.ral.ca or contact design@ral.ca.