California-based Arc Boat Company, a company working to electrify the marine industry, recently announced it will be retrofitting a 26-foot tugboat for use in the Port of Los Angeles in partnership with Diversified Marine, a West Coast shipyard.
“Tugboats are a cornerstone of the economy that enable cargo ships to operate at ports,” Kofi Asante, Arc vice president of business development, said. “The short, but high power requirements of a tugboat make it a great fit for electrification which can drive efficiencies at the port.”
Older tugboats are inefficient, expensive to operate and emit a high number of pollutants. The Port of Los Angeles, the busiest container port in the Western Hemisphere, has set a goal to have zero emissions by 2030, and retrofitting the tugboat is a step toward this goal.
The U.S. government has announced new incentives to revive domestic shipbuilding. Arc has made it its goal to help the United Stats regain its leadership in maritime technology. It plans to introduce modern vessels that are cleaner and more efficient.
The company currently is developing its first commercial vessel, a truckable tugboat, before working on larger vessels later this year.
In the past, U.S.-built diesel boats were substantially more expensive than foreign-built vessels.