Damen Shipyards and Echandia Marine Announce Strategic Tug Boat Partnership

News
22 January 2021

Damen Shipyards and Echandia are pleased to announce they have cemented a global partnership, combining Echandia’s DNV-Certified E-LTO energy systems and battery expertise, and Damen’s industry-leading tugboat experience.

The first project will be a fully-electric ship-handling tug – the first of its kind in the world – to service New Zealand’s largest container and international trade terminal – the Ports of Auckland Limited (POAL). With this port managing over half of New Zealand’s imports and exports, as well as servicing hundreds of thousands of cruise ship voyagers each year this is an exciting project for Echandia to undertake.

The RSD-E Tug 2513 will be a zero-emissions derivation of the IMO Tier III-ready RSD Tug 2513, introduced by Damen in 2018.

World-leading sustainable solutions

Echandia’s E-LTO energy storage system (ESS) is a smart, highly scalable air-cooled modular design system based on Toshiba LTO cells – widely considered the best heavy-duty cell chemistry on the market. The 2.8 MWh ESS is specifically optimised for the RSD-E Tug application and will be type-certified by world-leading testing and certification organization, Bureau Veritas.

Damen has a pioneering reputation for fuel-efficient hybrid tug design, developing both multi-functional standard vessels and custom-built, state-of the-art tugboat designs.

With sustainability playing an increasingly important role in maritime strategy, shipyards recognise the need to accelerate the development of sustainable, environmentally-friendly solutions to ensure that they remain competitive.

The Echandia-Damen partnership brings together sophisticated battery technology and deep skills in the shipyard industry with technology strategy and development to bring the next generation of electric tugboats to the global market.

Speaking about this partnership, Echandia’s CEO, Magnus Eriksson said:

The Damen-Echandia partnership is a powerful one. Damen’s understanding of and experience with the global tugboat market, combined with Echandia’s deep engineering and energy system expertise will result in a whole new market for electric tugboats and speed up the development of world-leading solutions. With over 30 shipyards and related companies worldwide, Damen has a global presence that will allow us to drive far more business impact for our end-users.