Escort tug Vilja is the first vessel to be equipped with Wärtsilä’s hybrid power module solution "HY". The system has been specially developed for the tug market and features a green, power boost and smokeless operational mode. At top bollard pull, the vessel reduces emissions by twenty per cent compared to conventional vessels.
When using the "green mode", the vessel, owned by the Swedish port of Luleå, operates with zero emissions and no noise. The "power boost" setting delivers a higher bollard pull than any other conventional solution of comparable size. When selecting "smokeless operation" no smoke is produced even during start-up of the main engines.
The Brains of HY
The Energy Management System (EMS) is the "brain" of HY and has been specifically tuned based on actual data acquired during one year of field operations. Its functionalities have been fully tested at the Wärtsilä Hybrid Centre in Trieste, Italy. The EMS is designed to efficiently cope with drastically changing operating conditions. In Luleå, the vessel will alternate between normal summer time operations, and working in one metre thick ice during the winter months. Having an adapting EMS ensures the tug’s ability to maintain the highest efficiency performance in both situations.
Twenty Per Cent Emissions Reduction
The tug was built at Gondan Shipbuilders in Asturias, Spain and was delivered at the end of June following completion of the commissioning and sea trials. It is the most powerful tug operating with hybrid propulsion to date. During trials, the icebreaking tug achieved a 100-tonne bollard pull, while producing approximately twenty per cent fewer emissions than a comparable conventional vessel.
Picture: The Vilja, an escort tug operated by the Port of Luleå in Sweden, is the first vessel of its kind operating with the Wärtsilä HY hybrid power module (courtesy of Port of Luleå).
