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World’s First All-Electric Tugboat Delivered, Three More on the Way

5 August 2020

Navtek Naval Technologies has laid the groundwork for the future by designing and building the world’s first all-electric tug, ZEETUG® – short for Zero Emissions Electric tug.

 

It started with two – superficially straightforward – renewal requests: Gisas Shipbuilding asked for harbor tugs that were both “lower emission and smaller size” than its previous fleet. The tugboats have to meet a rising environmental awareness along with a particularly tight operating environment inside the Port of Tuzla, Istanbul.

 

Built at Navtek’s parent company TK Tuzla Shipyard for Turkish owner GISAS Shipbuilding Industry, the first ZEETUG®, Gisas Power, went into service this year, operating in the shipyard zone in the Port of Tuzla, Istanbul. Designated a ZEETUG®-30 design for its 32 tonnes of bollard pull, Gisas Power has an overall length of 18.7 m, beam of 6.7 m, depth of 4.7 m and design draught of 3.5 m, with a service speed of 10 knots.

 

With the aid of a modular system, ZEETUG® has an integrated electrical propulsion system available to be tailored to the client’s specific operation profile (from 5T BP to 75T BP).

 

ZEETUG-30 draws all its power from two 1,450-kW lithium-ion battery packs supplied by Corvus Energy. For safety, the tug has two redundant battery rooms, one forward and one aft, which are maintained at a constant temperature by an air cooling system. ZEETUG® has been designed and built according to Turkish Lloyd’s rules, and meets any IACS member classification society’s valid and related requirements.

 

To optimize electric power consumption, analyze the operational profile and extend the range of the electric tug, Navtek designed the Smart Tug Energy Management System (STEMS). The STEMS software monitors ZEETUG®’s performance via an onboard data acquisition system. It tracks tug speed, motor speed, power consumption, battery-motor temperature, and battery state of charge, providing feedback and suggested actions to the captain.

 

Remote monitoring and diagnostics allow technicians and engineers to resolve any issues in real-time. Within hours, we are able to perform updates across our entire client fleet.

 

A full charge for the tug can be accomplished in one hour by a quick-charging station. The time it takes to charge a ZEETUG® varies based on the charger used, like other electrical devices. We adjust the technical characteristics of ZEETUG® according to the existing operating profile and needs/requirements of our clients. The QCS (quick charge station) is also designed and built by Navtek.

 

Compared with similarly sized diesel-mechanical tugs, the all-electric ZEETUG®-30 is expected to save 210 tonnes of CO2 emissions and nine tonnes of NOx emissions in a year.

 

ZEETUG® is a budget-friendly green technology, and the 85% lower operating cost of its full-electric propulsion system is also a real benefit for the operator. The return period of investment is amazing.

 

Further, the high power output comes with a significant increase in comfort levels, with no noise, no vibration and no emissions! Just efficient operations.

 

Our solution partners are BMA Technology (the electrical systems integrator), Corvus Energy (the battery supplier) and ABB (the drive and converter supplier). We want to thank Gisas Shipbuilding Industry for their trust in choosing us. We have two more 30T BP and one more 45T BP ZEETUG’s in our order book for our good client Gisas. The construction on these follow-on vessels will start in 2020.

BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE 08-04-2020 02:36:00

Comments (0)


Today
8:03am
Hi Jenna! I made a new design, and i wanted to show it to you.
8:03am
It's quite clean and it's inspired from Bulkit.
8:12am
Oh really??! I want to see that.
8:13am
FYI it was done in less than a day.
8:17am
Great to hear it. Just send me the PSD files so i can have a look at it.
8:18am
And if you have a prototype, you can also send me the link to it.

Monday
4:55pm
Hey Jenna, what's up?
4:56pm
Iam coming to LA tomorrow. Interested in having lunch?
5:21pm
Hey mate, it's been a while. Sure I would love to.
5:27pm
Ok. Let's say i pick you up at 12:30 at work, works?
5:43pm
Yup, that works great.
5:44pm
And yeah, don't forget to bring some of my favourite cheese cake.
5:27pm
No worries

Today
2:01pm
Hello Jenna, did you read my proposal?
2:01pm
Didn't hear from you since i sent it.
2:02pm
Hello Milly, Iam really sorry, Iam so busy recently, but i had the time to read it.
2:04pm
And what did you think about it?
2:05pm
Actually it's quite good, there might be some small changes but overall it's great.
2:07pm
I think that i can give it to my boss at this stage.
2:09pm
Crossing fingers then

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