PSA Wayra: Peru’s first hybrid-drive tug

PSA Wayra [Photo: PSA Peru]

Ordered last year at Hong Kong’s Cheoy Lee Shipyards (see earlier story), the Robert Allan Ltd RAmparts 2400 design hybrid-drive tug PSA Wayra will soon enter service as the first tug with a hybrid drive system on South America’s west coast. Built for PSA Marine Peru, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore’s PSA Marine (Pte) Ltd, the ASD tug is propelled by Schottel RudderPropellers and features Schottel’s patented Sydrive-M mechanical hybrid solution. Less complex than other hybrid technology, it reduces both the vessel’s maintenance costs and its fuel consumption. It has a particularly efficient and sustainable impact on the operation profile of harbor tugs that regularly alternate between towing and transit operations.

The main propulsion of the ASD hybrid-drive tug consists of two diesel-driven type SRP 460 SchotteL RudderPropellers (2,240 kW each) featuring fixed-pitch propellers with a diameter of 2.6 meters. With this thruster configuration, the 24.4 x 11.25 meter tug delivers more than 70 tonnes of bollard pull.

In addition, the rudder propellers feature the certified Schottel LeaCon sealing system which provides safe and reliable protection against contamination of seawater by operating materials.

Sydrive-M connects a vessel’s port and starboard mounted azimuth thrusters to allow both thrusters to be driven by only one of the main engines. This reduces main engine operating hours, lowering maintenance costs, fuel consumption and emissions.

The system requires no additional electronic components and has three main operating modes: light operation or free sailing mode, full thrust operation mode and FiFi mode.