First Tugboat Delivered with Hybrid Power Module from Wärtsilä

Wärtsilä has claimed a first for its hybrid power module solution. The Wärtsilä HY is the first hybrid power module in the maritime industry, and it is now operational on the Vilja, an escort tug owned by the Swedish port of Luleå. The tug was built at Gondan Shipbuilders in Asturias, Spain.

The solution has been developed for tugboats and features operating characteristics that include “green mode” with zero emissions and no noise, a “power boost” that delivers a higher bollard pull than any other conventional solution of comparable size, and “smokeless operation” whereby no smoke is produced even during start-up of the main engines. 

During trials, the ice-breaking tug achieved a 100-tonne bollard pull, while producing approximately 20 percent fewer emissions than a comparable conventional vessel.

The Energy Management System controlling the functionality has been tuned based on data acquired during one year of field operations. It is designed to efficiently cope with drastically changing operating conditions. In Luleå, the vessel will alternate between normal summer time operations, and working in one meter thick ice during the winter months. Having an adapting Energy Management System aims to ensure the tug’s ability to maintain the highest efficiency performance in both situations.

“This vessel is the most powerful tug operating with hybrid propulsion and it can be considered as creating a benchmark in the new era of modern shipping,” says Giulio Tirelli, Director, Sales & Business Intelligence, Wärtsilä Marine.