Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) has won a new green shipping order, with Mumbai-based Polestar Maritime Limited placing a contract for two battery-electric harbour tugs that will work at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) under the Centre’s Green Tug Transition Programme (GTTP).
Cochin Shipyard on Saturday said Polestar Maritime has ordered two 60-tonne bollard pull battery-electric green tugs, a high-powered class of vessels used to guide and manoeuvre large ships inside ports.
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Polestar, which specialises in harbour tugs, coastal towing and marine services, won a government tender to charter two electric tugs for JNPA and will now get them built in India by CSL.
The tugs will run on battery-electric propulsion, delivering zero direct emissions during harbour operations. CSL said the batteries will be sourced domestically—one more feather on the “Make in India” maritime cap.
Designed globally, built in Kochi and Udupi
The new vessels will be built to a design from Robert Allan Ltd, one of the world’s leading specialist designers of harbour tugs. CSL and its subsidiary Udupi Cochin Shipyard Ltd (Udupi-CSL) have already brought Robert Allan tug designs into India in line with the government’s Approved Standard Tug Design and Specifications (ASTDS) for Aatmanirbhar Bharat in the tug segment.
Construction will be shared between CSL’s main yard in Kochi and Udupi-CSL under a work-share arrangement, with final assembly in Kochi.
CSL noted that with this contract, the group’s order book now includes 17 tugs in total, of which six are green tugs at various stages of construction.
Part of Green Tug Transition push
The Green Tug Transition Programme aims to gradually replace or supplement conventional diesel-powered harbour tugs with low- or zero-emission alternatives at major Indian ports.
“CSL is pleased to receive the order from Polestar for the GTTP tugs and reaffirms its commitment to transforming the maritime industry by introducing battery-electric tugs to India under the Green Tug Transition Programme,” CSL Chairman and Managing Director Madhu S Nair said.
Such contracts are expected to help Indian yards climb the value chain in specialised workboats while also supporting India’s climate and energy-transition goals in the maritime sector.