The Port of Antwerp-Bruges and CMB.TECH have welcomed the first hydrogen-powered tugboat at the Port of Ostend.
The HYDROTUG 1 arrived in the port on 27 October.
The port authority said Ostend was chosen because the tug can use the hydrogen bunkering facilities of CMB.TECH’s Hydrocat 48 located at the port..
READ: Port of Antwerp-Bruges, PSA Antwerp greenlight €335-million Europa Terminal renewal
The HYDROTUG 1 consists of two BeHydro V12 dual fuel medium speed engines that can run on both hydrogen and traditional fuel. It can store 415 kilograms of compressed hydrogen in 6 stillages installed on deck and eliminates the emissions equivalent of 350 cars.
The HYDROTUG 1 is part of an integrated greening programme for the Port of Antwerp-Bruges fleet and is being deployed as an important step in the transition to a climate-neutral port by 2050.
The first water launch of the HYDROTUG 1 at Armón Shipyards in Navia Spain took place on 16 May.
In the following months, the remaining construction works on the vessel were completed, and the tugboat will be further finished with the hydrogen system.
The HYDROTUG 1 is expected to become fully operational in the first quarter of 2023.
In the first 9 months of 2022, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges registered a fall in container throughput as impact of the geopolitical and macroeconomic context lingers on.
Container throughput is down 8.8 per cent in tons and 5 per cent in TEU compared to the same period last year.
