Ports of Auckland is expecting delivery of the first all-electric harbour tug to be built for southern hemisphere operations
Damen Shipyards in Vietnam are putting the finishing touches on Sparky for Ports of Auckland.
This reverse stern drive (RSD) tug is being outfitted at Damen Song Cam shipyard and should be completed soon.
Sparky is an electric version of Damen’s RSD Tug 2513 design. It has been built using proven techniques and equipment but with electric drives and 70 tonnes of bollard pull.
In May, its 2,240 batteries were installed, equating to 2,784 kWh of power. This is enough to berth two vessels in a single charge, which takes just two hours.
Damen has also installed high levels of redundancy into Sparky’s power systems with the batteries arranged in strings. Therefore, if one battery fails, the others would simply carry on the work.
To ensure absolute safety, Sparky also has two 1,000-kW back-up generator sets, providing enough power for the tug to operate with 40 tonnes of bollard pull in the event of an electrical system failure, or if the vessel needs to operate for a longer duration.
These generators are fully IMO Tier III-compliant engines and the greenest option currently available.
However, in normal circumstances these will not be used.
After completion, Sparky will be mobilised to Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) in Q3 2021.
See below the original post on LinkedIn with a video demonstrating the newbuilding progress:
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