New Zealand welcomed the first ship-handling electric tug in the southern hemisphere as a key port invests in reducing its emissions
Ports of Auckland sailed Sparky into port 7 June after its voyage from the shipyard in Vietnam. It was escorted across the Waitematā harbour in Auckland, North Island, by Ports of Auckland’s current tugs.
“To welcome Sparky to Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) and see it in real life is a dream come true,” said Ports of Auckland project manager and general manager of marine and multi-cargo operations Allan D’Souza.
“Back in 2016, when we first pitched the idea for a fully electric tug, we were told we were dreaming.”
Damen Shipyards helped Ports of Auckland realise its dream as it built Sparky at the Song Cam shipyard in Vietnam with a suite of onboard batteries.
Ports of Auckland constructed an onshore charging station for this tug and future electric-driven vessels in the harbour.
Sparky is a reverse stern drive (RSD) tug with a top speed of 12 knots and a bollard pull of 70 tonnes. It was built to Damen’s RSD-E 2513 design, with an overall length of 25 m and beam of around 13 m.
Ports of Auckland chief executive Roger Gray said Sparky’s arrival is part of a greater emissions-reduction strategy for the port operator.
“Sparky is the first e-tug of its type in the world and was a truly innovative project for us,” Mr Gray said. “Its arrival marks a big step towards the ports’ decarbonisation of operations and towards our long-term emissions reduction goals.”
He indicated more electric-powered tugboats would be ordered for New Zealand ports. “Electric tugs are the future of ship handling and Ports of Auckland are proud to have led the way,” he said.
Charging takes around two hours from empty to full using four high-power cables of 375 kW capacity each.
Damen installed 2,240 Toshiba lithium-ion batteries and an Echandia Marine battery management system on Sparky in 2021.
This RSD tug also has two Caterpillar C32 engines to provide back-up power through a generator, which can step in if the battery charge is low. These can provide a power boost, run fire-fighting systems and charge the batteries if required.
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