All around the world increasingly ambitious regulations are coming into force that will require vessel owners to address the carbon output of their fleet, often during the lifecycle of the current generation of vessels.

The regulatory environment has resulted in the development of a framework for sustainability, with rules for each industry. Towards the future operators are required to demonstrate, year-on-year a reduction in their carbon emissions.

This presents a number of challenges for tug operators. First of all it is very hard and often commercially unattractive to upgrade the current tugs towards the any of the new technologies, while at the same  time complete fleet renewal might take too much time and is very expensive. Furthermore the new technology required to operate with lower carbon emissions is frequently immature and consistently capital intensive. Additionally, with a lack of relevant infrastructure for vessels sailing on alternative propulsion, the required investment is increased further.

It is impossible to predict which of the suitable renewable energy sources and/or fuels will be available and the most commercially viable during the lifetime of a certain tug on the location(s) where it will be operating in the future.

As a solution for this challenge, Damen Shipyards is developing a family of compact fuel flexible multi-purpose tugs. These tugs are standard “prepared for” and optionally “suitable for” dual-fuel operation on various types of diesels in combination with various types of less energy dense fuels. These future ready tugs are suitable for various types of operations with diverse clients, in multiple locations, competitive for today’s market and ready for “whatever tomorrow brings”.

In this presentation, Will Veltman, Product Portfolio Manager at Damen Shipyards, will provide further insight into this development and elaborate on the underlying technology and its role in enabling future-ready tug operations.