Ports of Auckland has welcomed a new addition to its fleet, with the arrival of the world\u2019s first full size, ship-handling electric tug. Named The expected cost of operating Sparky <\/em>is less than a third of the cost of running a diesel tug. Battery operated, the e-tug has a recharge time of approximately two hours and can run up to four shipping moves on one charge.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll be able to spot Sparky<\/em> on the water as her superstructure is painted bright green, unlike our diesel tugs\u201d said Allan D\u2019Souza, a general manager at the port. \u201cWhat you won\u2019t notice is noise or smoke; being electric she\u2019s a lot quieter, and cleaner, than our current diesel tugs.\u201d<\/p>\n Sparky<\/em> is the first Damen RSD-E Tug 2513. It has a 6 m draft, is 24.73 long and has two azimuth thrusters with 3 m diameter propellers. Sparky has a 70-tonne bollard pull and features 80 battery racks holding 2,240 batteries, totalling 2,784 kWh of power. It also has two 1000kW back-up generator sets which will only be used in cases of emergency or some fault.<\/p>\n In related news, a fully-electric ferry, Ellen<\/em>, has set a new world record in Denmark for the longest voyage \u2013 92 km \u2013 on a single battery charge.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\tSparky<\/span>, as voted by New Zealanders in a public vote in 2020, the e-tug ought to result in the saving of approximately 465 tonnes of CO2 in diesel emissions annually and marks another important step on the port\u2019s plans to be totally emissions free by 2040.<\/p>\n