Ports of Auckland wins Sustainable Business Award

Ports of Auckland and Damen Shipyard’s electric tug project has won the Outstanding Collaboration Award at Sustainable Business Awards. 

Representatives from the port company and Damen celebrated the award on Wednesday night in Auckland.

For Allan D’Souza, “Sparky’s dad” and marine and multi cargo operations general manager at Ports of Auckland, receiving the award was especially significant.

“We are thrilled that our partnership has been recognised. Progress in emissions free technology is rapidly improving, but it will take people partnering together, to really make change. 

“When the port first pitched the idea for a fully electric tug, we were told we were dreaming. In 2019 Damen partnered with us and today Sparky is moving cargo and cruise ships in and out of the Waitematā without emissions,” D’Souza says.

“We’d usually visit the shipyards regularly during a vessel build, especially one so innovative, but this time due to COVID-19 we were restricted in travel and had to manage the project with online meetings across three very different time-zones. This required a huge level of trust and collaboration,” he says.

Sparky was recently named in Time’s Best Inventions list and won Tug of the Year at the 2022 International Tug and Salvage Awards.