New zero-emissions tug being built for testing in the ports of LA, Long Beach

A $31 million, first-of-its-kind, clean tugboat now being built will head into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach for testing.

The L.A. harbor commission gave its approval for the shared trial of the hybrid electric tug boat at the panel’s meeting on Thursday, Jan. 11, while the Port of Long Beach, the lead agency, approved the trial run on Oct. 18.

Also see: Zero-emissions locomotive debuts at Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach

The new tug has a bigger and more powerful battery, said Lisa Wunder, interim director of Environmental Management for the LA port, and is intended to be 100% zero-emissions. The ports’ respective financial portions will be $750,000 each for the trial, which is being carried out as part of the joint-port Clean Air Action Plan Technology Advancement Program project. Other funding will come from various grants.

The battery plug-in hybrid vessel is being constructed now under a contract between Crowley Marine Services and a shipbuilder.

The Port of Long Beach will enter into the formal agreement with Crowley.

The new tug will be powered by dual batteries using a charging system that will rapidly recharge the batteries.

While it will include diesel engines, Wunder told the commission, the tugboat is designed to use those only as backup and for emergencies.

“We did have a hybrid electric tug that ultimately was not successful a few years back,” Wunder told commissioners. “That is the challenge, (but) this is being constructed with a larger battery. The technology continues to evolve.”

If it works and is certified by the California Air Resources Board, she said, there is an opening for the model to be mass produced and the cost being reduced if that happens. A traditional tug costs about $15 million.

Also see: Long Beach Container Terminal enters its final lap to go fully green

Infrastructure to support the tug is being developed at two berths within the Port of Los Angeles, Wunder said.

Much of the additional costs…