“World first: Port of Auckland inks deal to buy first electric tugboat.”

Source: Damen Shipyards

“Ports of Auckland, the company which administers the freight and cruise ship harbour facilities for New Zealand’s largest city, announced on [August 5, 2019] that it has signed a contract with Dutch shipbuilding and engineering conglomerate Damen Shipyards to buy the world’s first full-sized, fully electric port tugboat.”

“The new tug – a Damen RSD-E Tug 2513 to be delivered in 2021 – will boast a 70-tonne bollard pull, the same as the Ports of Auckland’s strongest diesel tug, Hauraki, which was also built by Damen. Unlike a diesel tugboat, however, the coast of operating an electric tug is less than a third of the cost when compared to a diesel tug.”

““It was important to us that a new electric tug should be able to carry out normal port operations, just like our existing diesel tugs,” said Gibson. “Our new e-tug will be able to do three to four shipping moves on a full charge, or around three to four hours work (one shipping move takes an hour on average). A fast charge will take about two hours. This is just what we need.”

“The Ports of Auckland began investigating the role of electric, battery-powered tug’s back in 2016 when they made their commitment to be powered by zero emissions by 2040.”

Read more: “World first: Port of Auckland inks deal to buy first electric tugboat.” The Driven, August 6, 2019.