Arc wins $160M hybrid tug contract
Arc
This contract shows Arc is no longer just selling premium boats, it is becoming a propulsion and vessel systems company for regulated commercial fleets. Eight ship assist tugs at $160 million works out to about $20 million per vessel, and these boats are being built for Los Angeles and Long Beach, where operators face tightening emissions rules and high fuel and maintenance costs on aging diesel fleets. That makes electrification a budget and compliance decision, not just a green upgrade.
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These are not small pilot vessels. Arc says each tug will deliver more than 4,000 horsepower, about 60 tonnes of bollard pull, and a 6 MWh battery. The first four are planned to enter service before the end of 2027, which means Arc is moving into core port infrastructure with multi year delivery commitments.
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The customer matters as much as the contract size. By working with operators like Curtin Maritime and Diversified Marine, Arc gets a route into roughly 2,000 U.S. tugboat operators, instead of building a traditional industrial sales force one port at a time.
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California is the wedge market because harbor craft rules are pushing cleaner engines and zero emission technology where feasible. EPA granted authorization for most of California’s commercial harbor craft regulation on January 6, 2025, which gives ports and fleet owners a real compliance clock and makes replacement demand more concrete.
The next step is a shift from one off tug builds to a repeatable commercial platform, where Arc sells drivetrains, batteries, charging, and complete vessels into ports that need to modernize working fleets. If the Curtin program is delivered on time by 2027, it becomes a proof point that can pull Arc into a much larger replacement and retrofit cycle across U.S. and international harbor craft.