Empresa Nacional del Petróleo (ENAP), a company engaged in the exploration, production and marketing of hydrocarbon products and their derivatives and SAAM, through its tugboat division SAAM Towage, have inked a service deal that will make Chile the first country in Latin America with an electric, and therefore emission-free, maritime tugboat.
The new tugboat is anticipated to start operations in Chile within the next 18 months.
“ENAP’s access to this service, which is unprecedented in Latin America, will allow it to reduce operating emissions, which supports Chile’s commitment to move towards carbon neutrality by 2050 or earlier,” stated Diego Pardow, Chile’s Minister of Energy.
The vessel will operate at Puerto Chacabuco, Aysén area, one of the world’s southernmost terminals. Also, it will provide GHG emissions-free berthing and unberthing services for ships while substantially lowering environmental and underwater noise.
“Implementing this new technology in our processes supports our company’s goal of being more sustainable every day and advancing towards decarbonization. This milestone is in addition to the LNG-powered trucking services we contracted last year and aligns with our dedication, as a state-owned company, to undertaking extensive public-private efforts to transition as a society to different types of energy,” added Julio Friedmann, CEO of ENAP.
