Navtek Naval Technologies has designed and built the world's first all-electric tug too: the ZEETUG, an abbreviation of Zero Emissions Electric tug.
It started with two - seemingly simple - requests: Gisas Shipbuilding wanted a port tug that combined lower emissions with a smaller size than the rest of the fleet. The tugs had to meet an increasing environmental awareness and 'get out of the way' well in d particularly cramped port of Tuzla, Istanbul.
The first ZEETUG, Gisas Power, was built this year at Navtek's parent company TK Tuzla Shipyard for Turkish owner GISAS Shipbuilding Industry and operates in the area around the shipyard in the port of Tuzla. Gisas Power is based on a ZEETUG-30 design with 32 tonnes of bollard pull. The overall length is 18.7 m, width 6.7 m while the design draught is about 3.5 m. The average speed is 10 knots.
Using a modular system, ZEETUG has at its disposal an integrated electric propulsion system tailored to the customer's specific work profile (from 5 to 75 tonnes of towing power).
Battery packs
Power for the ZEETUG-30 is provided by two 1,450 kW lithium-ion battery packs. For safety, the tug has two redundant battery rooms, one at the front and one at the back. The battery rooms are kept at a constant temperature by an air cooling system. To optimise power consumption, analyse performance and increase the electric tug's range, Navtek designed the Smart Tug Energy Management System (STEMS). The STEMS software monitors ZEETUG's performance through an onboard data acquisition system. It tracks tug speed, engine speed, power consumption, battery engine temperature and battery charge status. Based on this, the system provides feedback and suggests actions to the captain. Remote monitoring and diagnostics allow technicians and engineers to solve any problems in real time.
Fast charging station
The tug can be fully recharged in one hour by a fast charging station. This QCS (fast charging station) was also designed and built by Navtek. Compared to similar 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 with operating costs of the all-electric propulsion system reduced by 85%. Moreover, the high power provides a significant increase in comfort, with no noise, no vibration and no emissions.
Check out the video to see the ZEETUG at work.
