"The First All-Electric Tugboat In The US Is About To Launch"

"The eWolf will begin operating this spring at the Port of San Diego, marking an important early step towards slashing diesel pollution from America’s ports."

"With their roaring diesel engines, tugboats push, pull and guide much larger vessels into port and out to sea. They are small but mighty — and incredibly dirty, spewing huge amounts of toxic exhaust and planet-warming emissions every year.

Now, however, the humble harbor craft is going electric.

America’s first fully battery-powered tugboat recently docked at the Port of San Diego, where officials are working to decarbonize not just tugs but also diesel cranes and trucks. The electric tug was built over three years at an Alabama shipyard, then moved through the Panama Canal before arriving in Southern California earlier this spring.

“We’re ecstatic,” Frank Urtasun, the port’s chairman, told Canary Media. ​“This electric tugboat is a real game-changer that I think will have ramifications across the country.”"

Maria Gallucci reports for Canary Media April 9, 2024.

Source: Canary Media, 04/10/2024