Two new hybrid pilot boats will accompany ships entering and leaving the Klaipėda Port in a year and a half. A contract is signed with “Baltic Workboats AS” of Estonia.
“At the end of next year, a hydrogen-powered waste collection vessel and two new-style hybrid pilot boats will be sailing in the Klaipėda Port Channel. Klaipėda Port is undergoing renewal and modernization while taking a comprehensive approach to environmental improvement within the port”, says Algis Latakas, Director General of the Klaipėda Port Authority.
The new boats will operate around the clock and will be able to operate in poor weather conditions, even when the wave height at sea reaches 5 metres and the waves are up to 30 m/s. The boats will also be equipped with search and rescue equipment for rescuing persons in the water: an on-board crane, a rescue platform, searchlights with integrated thermal cameras. They will be powered by diesel-electric drive.
“It is worth pointing out that pilot boats will use only electricity to move around the port. However, if more speed is needed, especially when sailing out to sea, beyond the port gates, the engines will switch to diesel. This will reduce emissions at Klaipeda Port,” says Gintaras Petreikis, Fleet Manager at Klaipeda State Sea Port Authority.
Electric charging stations for boats will be located at the Port Authority’s new fleet base and near the company’s planned new administration building.
The pilot boats will be built at the “Baltic Workboats AS” shipyard on the island of Saaremaa in Estonia. They should reach Klaipėda Port at the end of 2025.
One boat will cost the Port Authority EUR 3.242 million excluding VAT.
2025 © The Baltic Times /Cookies Policy Privacy Policy