Electric cars are taking the world by storm. However, for specialized vehicles in various industries, the transition has been slow due to complex and costly modifications. But Denmark has a unique electric Ford that helps berth some of the world’s largest cargo ships.
Photo: Ford Pro | YouTube
The first electric tugboat in Scandinavia and the world is now operating in the port of Aarhus on Denmark’s east coast. What exactly does the vehicle do? When the ship is ready to dock, the Ford arrives.
The rope, a rope specially designed to hold giant cargo ships in place, is pulled in and positioned by a vehicle that integrates two electric motors. One of them moves the vehicle, and the other pulls the rope tight. The Ford E-Transit in all configurations delivers 266 hp (269 hp) and 317 lb-ft (430 Nm) of torque.The model is equipped with 68 kWh With the battery pack, the range is 126 miles (204 kilometers).
The Port of Aarhus adopted this solution in order to keep the footprint as small as possible. Tugboats, which pull on ropes and run solely on electricity, are new to the field. Before going electric, the center used only diesel vehicles.
This is a Ford E-Transit that was modified by Ford and Knobel Drilling in collaboration with the Danish Port Authority, the country’s largest commercial port. The goal is for him to be CO2 neutral by 2030. With newly developed vehicles operating on completely new principles, the port plans to transition its entire land fleet. Aarhus Port aims to become the most sustainable port on the Baltic Sea.
E-Transit functions like any other tugboat. Therefore, operators did not need special training to switch from the previous one to the new one.
On older tugs, winches were also powered by small diesel engines and made a lot of noise. The use of electricity reduces noise to zero when winding up mooring lines to secure a cargo ship, without interfering with communication between the operator and the captain, for example.
Powered by a separate 24-volt power system, the electric winch makes no noise but can pull as much as a diesel-powered winch, which weighs approximately 1,764 pounds (800 kg). The rear of the vehicle’s cab is equipped with two winches, one vertical and one horizontal.
With around 3,3000 mooring operations carried out at Aarhus Port each year, the converted E-Transit has no time for holidays.
