Port of Hamburg to implement hydrogen-powered tugboats

The Mabanaft Group has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Fairplay Towage Group to supply hydrogen to their new tugs in the Port of Hamburg.

According to the Port of Hamburg, hydrogen and bunkering infrastructure must be installed to enable the usage of hydrogen-powered tugboats.

Mabanaft, a maritime fuel provider and operator of tank terminals, plans to augment its marine fuel range with hydrogen and to use its tank terminals in Hamburg for this purpose, in order to supply Fairplay Towage with hydrogen.

Volker Ebeling, Senior Vice President New Energy, Supply & Infrastructure at Mabanaft, said: “This agreement with Fairplay Towage is an important step on the road to achieving carbon neutral shipping in the port of Hamburg and we are proud to be working together to decarbonise the industry.”

According to the port, these hydrogen-powered tugboats are scheduled to be in use from 2025.

In November 2022, Mabanaft announced its intention to build an ammonia import terminal in the Port of Hamburg.

More recently, this month, the Port of Hamburg received the title of best port in Europe for the fourth time in a row.