Arc gets its first major order for electric tugboats worth $160M | TechCrunch

If you’ve heard of Arc Boats, the Los Angeles startup was founded in 2021 by a former SpaceX employee, most likely because you’ve seen it Smooth sports boat. But the company has also been dragging into a world where the charm of tugboats is far less fascinating, and now has its first big order worth $160 million.

The company announced Wednesday that it had signed a contract with tugboat and barge operator Curtin Maritime for that value. New hybrid tugs are expected to hit the waters around the LA port in 2027. Curtin ordered eight tugs – about $20 million each – ARC will be with Snow & Co. Snow & Co. Shipyard builds them together.

Specifically, these are so-called ship-assisted tugs, which help bring behemoth cargo ships into major ports such as Los Angeles.

ARC CEO and co-founder Mitch Lee told TechCrunch that tugboats like TechCrunch are “torque-generating machines, which is really cool.” But the standard version is powered by a monster diesel engine [and] Spray sulfur oxides into the air, harming the surroundings and risking the long-term health of staff.

Li said this type of tug is the worst polluted vehicle on the planet on linear feet. By largely replacing diesel power plants with batteries and electric motors (temporarily using hybrid systems), ARC can help tug operators cut that pollution. This puts them in a better position to comply with environmental regulations and improve air quality.

Lee expects the impact to be noticeable. While the deal with Curtin only applies to eight tugs, Lee said there are only about 20 vessels in the entire Los Angeles port, which means the contract can be a surprise from those emissions.

Li said swapping the main plant from diesel to electric motors also helps save space. Just as electric passenger cars tend to have more legroom and storage due to a simpler electric drivetrain, Lee says Arc’s hybrid system allows things like large exhaust stacks to be abandoned, often taking up a lot of rooms on a tug.

He won’t go into detail about what the tug operator would do in the space (Lee says it could turn to the realm of trade secrets). But he suggested that this could mean space in the crew dormitory, which is valuable because the tug-workers often live on them for up to two weeks. The removal of smoke piles means visibility of workers in the “cab” – control towers operated from tugboats.

How it works

Arc’s ships have been fully electric so far, and the company’s ambitious mission is to electrify all ships. Lee said the new tug will run primarily on electric propulsion, with the electric motors popping up more than 4,000 horsepower from the ship. There is a diesel generator, although it is much smaller than the power plant used by a regular tug. Lee said it would only really start to charge the battery longer travel, or to charge the battery in the absence of marine charging infrastructure.

“If you need it, you have the option to turn on these generators – we never want the operator to have to refuse to work or stay due to insufficient battery on board,” Lee said.

Otherwise, the usually brief and conventional task tug tackle is custom-made for electric propulsion, he said. And, because the electric powertrain is simpler, he hopes to use ARC’s tugs for maintenance to be less downtime. Combining it with the economics of buying less fuel, Lee said he thinks ARC’s tugs make sense for operators.

But there is a more fundamental difference between Arc’s new product and startup sport boats: Lee cannot legally test tugs. Plum spent hours whipping with arcs on lakes and coastlines, Arc motionand Arc coast – Maybe even some with the company Celebrity investors like Kevin Durant. However, a tug of this size requires a special permit, which means Lee cannot be behind the steering wheel. (He drove the smaller one of the company “Truck” tug It was announced earlier this year. )

This did not undermine Lee’s optimism about the opportunity here.

“[There’s] All this hype and enthusiasm Around the ship buildingcurrently near sea, many of which are concentrated on defense, but this is a very important part of the economy. “All of these commercial activities are preserved by these tractors in the water, which are pushing the boats into place,” he said. We have the opportunity to modernize them in a very compelling way. ”