Sparky: Empowering Fully Electric Full-sized Tugboat

In 2022, Damen, one of the biggest privately owned shipyards in the world, introduced the first fully electric tugboat in their portfolio, the RSD-E Tug 2513, aka Sparky.

ComAp was honoured to develop the new AC/DC Power Management System for this revolutionary harbour tug. A system that controls 2,240 batteries, with a total of 2,784 kWh output, with which the tug can manoeuvre vessels to berth safely at the Ports of Auckland in New Zealand at up to 70 tonnes of bollard pull.

This smartly orchestrated tugboat received worldwide recognition; it was listed on TIME’s Best Inventions of 2022, was awarded the ITS Tug of the Year Award 2022 and was nominated for the 2023 Ship of the Year Award.
This project stands out for its innovative integration of both AC and DC systems on board the vessel, powering all electric consumers, with the electric thrusters being the most significant.