Robert Allan Ltd. has been awarded a contract to design an AmpRA 3600 battery‑electric tug for Tianjin Port in northern China, according to the company's release.
The vessel will be constructed at Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard (Group) Co. Ltd and represents a shift from a previously successful conventional propulsion design for the same owner and shipyard.
According to the company, the new tug will be fully battery‑powered, with no onboard generator sets, marking it as diesel‑free. It will also be the first Robert Allan Ltd. battery‑electric vessel to operate in Chinese waters.
Key equipment includes over 7 MWh of batteries supplied by CATL, an electrical system from the 704 Institute, and L‑drives from Nanjing High Accurate Marine Equipment Co., Ltd. The vessel is specified to be 35.8 m in length overall, with a moulded breadth of 11.2 m, a least moulded depth of 5.2 m, a bollard pull of 62 tonnes and accommodations for seven persons.
Robert Allan Ltd. has maintained a longstanding design relationship with Tianjin Port since at least 2013, delivering multiple RAmparts‑series tugs under conventional and “intelligent” designs. In April 2024, two RAmparts 3500 ASD tugs—Jingang Lun 36 and 37—designed by the same firm and built at Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard, were commissioned as part of Tianjin Port’s intelligent port initiative.
Robert Allan Ltd. is an independent, privately owned Canadian naval architecture and marine engineering firm established in 1930, headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. It specialises in the design of commercial working vessels, notably tugs, fireboats, crewboats, barges and other utility craft.
Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard (Group) Co. Ltd is a provincial‑level shipbuilding enterprise founded in 1951 in Jiangsu Province. Located east of the Runyang Bridge, it operates a comprehensive shipyard over approximately 400 000 m² of land and a 700 m coastline. The shipyard integrates full production—hull fabrication, outfitting, painting, design, management—and has constructed over 100 vessel types.