Snow & Co. launches first battery-powered electric ship-assist tug Tuuli C

Snow & Co. launched the first-of-eight battery-powered electric ship-assist tugs for Curtin Maritime. All photos belong to Arc Boats.

Snow & Co., Seattle, has launched the first battery-powered electric ship-assist tug in an eight-vessel series being built for Curtin Maritime, Long Beach, Calif., with Los Angeles-based Arc providing the battery and battery management system integration.

WorkBoat visited the shipyard in April as two 2,000-hp Schottel L-drive propulsion units were being installed aboard the 80’9”x42’3” tug Tuuli C, and crews prepared the vessel for launch. The tugs are too heavy for the shipyard’s traditional 1942 steam-powered crane launch system, so Snow brought in Manson's Derrick 24, a much larger floating crane, also leading Snow & Co. to develop an alternative approach to move the vessel out of the building using eight air casters.

“So that sits flat on the floor and the air blows in there. This is the manifold for the eight air casters,” said shipyard founder and president Brett Snow, pointing to the contraption in his office.

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