Damen reaches electric tug milestone

Damen is constructing the RSD-E Tug 2513, named Sparky, for New Zealand’s Ports of Auckland. The ports placed the order n in August, 2019 and delivery is scheduled for the end of the year.

The recent battery installation, at the Damen Song Cam Shipyard in Vietnam, saw the fitting of some 2,240 batteries, totalling 2,784 kWh, which will enable Sparky to carry out two or more berthing/unberthing operations with up to 70 tonnes bollard pull on a single charge.

The batteries, which take just two hours to recharge to full capacity, are arranged in strings, meaning that if one battery in a string were to fail, the others would be able to carry on the work. In addition to the RSD Tug 2513, Damen is also able to electrify its ASD Tug 2813.

Damen already has extensive experience in the construction of electric vessels, delivering seven fully-electric ferries for Copenhagen in Denmark and a fully-electric Cutter Suction Dredger 650 for an Australian client.

The shipbuilder is also constructing fully-electric ferries for Ontario, six hybrid road ferries for British Columbia and nine waterbuses for Blue Amigo to operate in the Netherlands. Three of the vessels will be fully electric, while the remaining hybrids will be prepared for future conversion to full electric. To date, Damen has delivered electric vessels with a total of 20 mW of battery power.