The Dubai headquartered Tristar Group (Tristar) has sealed a deal with Akdeniz Shipyard in Adana, Türkiye to build a hybrid bunker barge, with scheduled delivery in the first quarter of 2025.
Tristar notes that the 750-cubic metre capacity bunkering vessel is designed to house diesel generators as a backup to electric power.
She will not have a conventional funnel and the deck space here by saved will house the sizeable on-board battery.
The company says also that if the generators run the vessel will discharge the flue gases under water so that GHG emissions into the atmosphere are greatly reduced.
The vessel’s powertrain will lower the carbon emissions when compared to conventional diesel propulsion, and the company is expecting that the carbon emissions will be reduced by more than 50%.
The newbuild bunkering tanker, after her delivery, will be positioned at port of Fujairah, the multi-purpose maritime facility on the east coast of the UAE, where the bunkering barge will also provide stores and supplies to vessels stopping at anchorage off Fujairah port.
Eugene Mayne, chief executive of Tristar Group, said: “We are creating another opportunity to pioneer green technology in an environment that has been familiar and fruitful for us, for many years.”
“As a prominent player in the global maritime sector, it is obligatory for Tristar to be willing and able to take the first steps towards any feasible decarbonisation and create sectoral change. As port infrastructure continues to develop in support of using electric barges for coastal operations, we are optimistic this bold move will encourage the local maritime industry to follow suit.”
