First Australian EcoTows define sustainable port operations

Svitzer has introduced its EcoTow activities in Australia to reduce carbon emissions from ship handling, towage and docking. This enables shipowners and operators to lower their scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions during port operations in the nation’s ports.

EcoTow is already available to shipping lines in the UK, where Svitzer’s tugs are mostly running on biofuels, and it is being rolled out elsewhere in its global operations.

The first use EcoTow in Austalia was for Höegh Autoliners, offering low-carbon towage and handling services to a vehicle carrier that already emits 50% less emissions than comparable conventional vessels.

Svitzer Australia provided EcoTow to multi-fuel capable vehicle carrier Höegh Aurora while it visited four Australian ports. This involved carbon insetting to provide a near 100% reduction in CO2 emissions during Höegh Aurora’s port calls.

Carbon emissions from towage jobs are mass balanced by carbon credits generated by Svitzer’s use of biofuel across its international towage operations. The neutralisation effect is established by an external auditor and documented through certification and assurance reporting. 

“This is an exciting step forward for decarbonising shipping in Australia,” says Svitzer managing director for Australia, Videlina Georgieva. “It is a demonstration of the significant contribution maritime can make toward a net-zero future.”  

Svitzer uses hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel in its UK operations and fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) blends in European and Middle Eastern ports. This is where it can offset carbon emissions from ship towage and handling services elsewhere.

Towage is one of the largest carbon emitters in port operations in Australia, and Svitzer has a comprehensive decarbonisation strategy targeting its reduction, including using biofuels and tugs with hybrid propulsion and battery power.

“Svitzer has ambitious decarbonisation goals to have fully carbon neutral operations by 2040 and to reduce the carbon intensity of its tugboat fleet by 50% by 2030,” says Ms Georgieva.

Australia has huge renewable energy and biofuel sources yet to be utilised.

“We hope this EcoTow initiative provides some further impetus to the policy landscape in Australia where there is a major, but largely unmet, opportunity to accelerate bioenergy and electrification solutions in maritime decarbonisation,” says Ms Georgieva.

For Höegh Autoliners, using EcoTow is a way to reduce carbon emissions from port operations involving its environmentally friendly car carriers in ports.

“We are whole-heartedly set on achieving our 2040 net-zero emissions goal, and the EcoTow agreement with Svitzer on Höegh Aurora’s visit to Australia illustrates our ongoing commitment in meeting these goals,” says Höegh Autoliners chief operations officer Sebjørn Dahl.

“We have secured the first-ever, low-carbon towage service in Australia and it is only appropriate that our innovative Aurora-class vessel delivers this first, providing the opportunity to further reduce the carbon footprint of our customers’ value chains.” 

Höegh Aurora cuts carbon emissions per car transported by 58% compared with the current industry standard when running on LNG. Höegh’s Aurora-class vessels can be converted to run on ammonia for net-zero carbon during voyages, with the first scheduled to do so in 2027, straight from the shipyard after its construction.

In 2025, Svitzer Australia will receive its first tugboats built to the more efficient TRAnsverse design, developed by Svitzer and Robert Allan Ltd. Two of these tugs, which reduce emissions compared with azimuth stern drive tugs, are under construction at Uzmar’s shipyard in Turkey to operate in the Port of Newcastle.

Höegh Aurora’s maiden voyage to Australia occurred in late December 2024, departing on 30 December after completing a four-port visit to Australia where it transported cars to the nation’s retail automotive market via ports in Fremantle, Melbourne, Port Kembla and Brisbane.