Finding
China operates the largest battery tugs, led by Lianyungang Port's Yun Gang Dian Tuo 1 and 2, while the US, New Zealand and Canada each run battery tugs at single ports with dedicated shore chargers
Yun Gang Dian Tuo 1 (5.16 MWh) was delivered in August 2021 and had logged more than 570 charges and 7,000 hours on electric drive by early 2025; Yun Gang Dian Tuo 2 (7.22 MWh, 4,030 kW) works the Lianyungang LNG terminal. Crowley's eWolf (2024) is the first US battery harbor tug, at the Port of San Diego, and Ports of Auckland's Damen RSD-E Tug 2513, named Sparky, matches it at 70 tons of bollard pull.
The arithmetic favors batteries. A 70-ton bollard-pull tug needs about 5 MW at full power, but a ship assist lasts 30 to 90 minutes with full power for only a few minutes of it; the rest is transit at low load and waiting at the berth, which is where a diesel tug wastes fuel idling. A 6 MWh pack covers several assists, and the tug recharges at its own berth between jobs. Escort work is different: tankers escorted for hours through coastal waters drain a pack, so escort tugs stay hybrid. Terminal tugs at LNG and bulk berths, with predictable schedules and a fixed base, are the strongest fit, which is why Yun Gang Dian Tuo 2 and the HaiSea pair at LNG Canada's Kitimat terminal were built battery-only.
China's pipeline is the deepest. Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyards completed Ning Gang Dian Tuo 1, the first pure-electric tug on the Yangtze, for Nanjing Port in late 2024 on LFP batteries; Lianyungang Hongyun had five more battery tugs under construction for Lianyungang, Shenzhen and Guangzhou with deliveries from 2025; and Tianjin Port ordered a battery tug to Robert Allan's AmpRA 3600 design. Qingdao Port put Qing Dian Tuo 1, a hydrogen fuel-cell tug with 82 tons of towing force, to work in June 2025 without stating its hydrogen source; its diesel-battery Qing Gang Tuo 1 pulls 25 tons on battery alone. In July 2025 an ammonia dual-fuel tug at Dalian was bunkered with green ammonia from Envision's Chifeng plant and replaced 91% of its fossil fuel.
Elsewhere, Japan's NYK converted the tug Sakigake to burn ammonia (2024), and the Kotug, Svitzer and SAAM fleets add hybrids. Charging is the gating cost: eWolf's San Diego charger uses a shore-side battery so the tug can draw megawatts without a matching utility connection.
Tug list
Electric and low-carbon tugboats
Battery-electric first, then hydrogen fuel-cell, hybrid-electric and green-fuel combustion.
| Vessel | Country | Powertrain | Battery MWh | Pull or power | Charging and fuel | Port | Status | In service |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| eWolf (Crowley) | US | battery-electric | 6.2 | 70 t bollard pull | Dedicated shore charger with battery buffer | Port of San Diego | in service | 2024 |
| HaiSea Wamis and HaiSea Wawaditla (HaiSea Marine, Haisla Nation and Seaspan) | Canada | battery-electric | Harbor tugs (each) | Shore charging on hydropower | Kitimat, British Columbia (LNG Canada) | in service | 2023 | |
| Ning Gang Dian Tuo 1 (Nanjing Port Group) | China | battery-electric | Harbor tug | Shore charging | Nanjing (Yangtze) | in service | 2024 | |
| Shen Gang Dian Tuo 1 (Shenzhen port operators) | China | battery-electric | Harbor tug | Shore charging | Shenzhen | in service | 2025 | |
| Sparky (Damen RSD-E Tug 2513) (Port of Auckland) | New Zealand | battery-electric | 2.8 | 70 t bollard pull | Shore charging at Auckland | Auckland | in service | 2022 |
| Yun Gang Dian Tuo 1 (Lianyungang Port) | China | battery-electric | 5.16 | 40 t astern pull | Shore charging at Lianyungang | Lianyungang, Jiangsu | in service | 2021 |
| Yun Gang Dian Tuo 2 (Lianyungang Port) | China | battery-electric | 7.22 | 63 t astern pull; 4,030 kW | Shore charging | Lianyungang LNG terminal | in service | 2023 |
| Tianjin Port battery tug (AmpRA 3600) (Tianjin Port) | China | battery-electric | Harbor tug | Shore charging | Tianjin | under construction | ||
| Qing Dian Tuo 1 (Qingdao Port, Shandong Port Group) | China | hydrogen fuel-cell electric (unstated fuel) | 82 t towing force | Hydrogen fuel cell plus liquid-cooled lithium battery | Qingdao | in service | 2025 | |
| Qing Gang Tuo 1 (Qingdao Port) | China | hybrid-electric | 2.76 | 61 t ahead (25 t on battery only) | Diesel plus battery; shore charging | Qingdao | in service | 2022 |
| Sakigake (NYK Line) | Japan | green-fuel combustion (unstated fuel) | Harbor tug | Ammonia-fueled engines | Tokyo Bay | demonstrator | 2024 |
Tug types
Which tugs electrify first
| Tug type | Duty | Best fit | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal tug (LNG, bulk) | Fixed base, scheduled berthing | battery-electric | Yun Gang Dian Tuo 2, HaiSea Wamis and HaiSea Wawaditla |
| Harbor assist | Short full-power jobs between long waits | battery-electric | Yun Gang Dian Tuo 1, eWolf, Sparky, Ning Gang Dian Tuo 1 |
| Escort tug | Hours alongside tankers in coastal waters | hybrid-electric; hydrogen fuel cell | Qing Gang Tuo 1; Qing Dian Tuo 1 |
| Fuel pathfinders | Test bed for new marine fuels | green-fuel combustion | NYK Sakigake (ammonia); Dalian ammonia dual-fuel tug |
Sources
Sources and scope
- Scope
- Electric Tugboats
- Sources
- Riviera; Baird Maritime; Marine Insight; Crowley; Ports of Auckland; NYK; Operator, shipyard and class-society releases; Maritime Executive, Baird Maritime, gCaptain, Riviera; EU Blue Economy Observatory; Oct 2026
- Updated
- October 2026