The Royal Netherlands Navy has just taken delivery of its first fully electric workboat.
‘Bolder’ is the first of three new vessels from Hoorn-based builder Stormer Marine, the other two boats ‘Beting’ and ‘Bakspier’ are expected to enter service next year. The trio are all completely electrically propelled and will replace 5 small Scheldt class tugboats which have now completed approximately 35 years of service .
The Dutch navy ‘s move to electric was instigated in 2020 as a consequence of the Defense Energy and Environment Strategy and the Defense Energy Transition Action Plan, the aim of which is to reduce the use of fossil fuels.
The new workboats have a range of 80 kilometres at a speed of 4 knots and can take a maximum of 8 passengers in addition to the two-person crew. It is expected that relatively little maintenance will be required on the ships, as an example the battery basically lasts the entire life of the boat
These 'workhorses' are used by the navy’s towing service for numerous tasks such as assisting with mooring and unmooring and moving small boats and pontoons to other berths. They also transport personnel through the port.
