© 2024 New Atlas
Marine

Incat Tasmania to build world's largest electric passenger ferry

By Paul Ridden
January 18, 2023
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • LinkedIn
View 2 Images
Incat is aiming to deliver the world's largest battery electric ferry to customer Buquebus by 2025
Incat
The 130-meter-long electric ferry is expected to operate between Argentina and Uruguay, and is capable of carrying 2,100 passengers/crew plus 226 cars
Incat
Incat is aiming to deliver the world's largest battery electric ferry to customer Buquebus by 2025
Incat

Tasmanian builder of high-speed catamaran ferries Incat has announced that it's aiming to deliver the world's largest battery electric passenger ferry to Argentina-based operator Buquebus by 2025.

Plans for the ninth Incat vessel to join the Buquebus fleet were originally revealed back in 2019, with the 130-m-long (426.5-ft), 32-m-wide (105-ft) ferry intended to serve ports on the Rio Plato between Argentina and Uruguay.

That original design called for two aluminum hulls connected to a bridging section, a passenger capacity of 2,100 (including crew) and enough room for 226 cars. It's four dual-fuel engines would burn LNG and its top speed was expected to be around 37.5 knots. But now Buquebus has asked for Incat to look into replacing the LNG powerplant with batteries and electric motors.

"The customer wants this to happen, Incat wants this to happen, and whilst there are matters to be finalized, I am extremely confident that Incat can deliver this ground-breaking ship," said Incat Group founder and chairman, Robert Clifford. "In my experience unless we see something come in from left field, this is a done deal."

The 130-meter-long electric ferry is expected to operate between Argentina and Uruguay, and is capable of carrying 2,100 passengers/crew plus 226 cars
Incat

Few details have been released at this stage of development, but the Hull 096 vessel is shown as "in construction" on Incat's website, and Riviera Maritime Media reports that the vessel has a target top speed of 25 knots.

The new ferry will include multi-fuel generators as an interim measure until shore-based charging solutions are in place, at which time the fuel container/generator modules will be removed and the vessel will operate as electric only. Retractable charging cables will be installed port and starboard, which are expected to support 30-to-40-minute fast charging as well as overnight top-ups.

The battery banks and motors are reported to be in development with Incat's suppliers, and if all goes to plan Buquebus can expect delivery of "the world's largest, zero emissions, lightweight ferry" some time in 2025.

Source: Incat

Tags

MarineElectric BoatsShips
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • LinkedIn
Paul Ridden
While Paul is loath to reveal his age, he will admit to cutting his IT teeth on a TRS-80 (although he won't say which version). An obsessive fascination with computer technology blossomed from hobby into career before hopping over to France for 10 years, where he started work for New Atlas in 2009. Now back in his native Blighty, he serves as Managing Editor in Europe.
6 comments
pbethel
It will have to have batteries enough to handle the worst case scenario which means a huge weight penalty for normal ops.
When I captained a boat (only 60 passengers and crew) my worst fear was fire, not sinking. Lithium battery fires, currently, cannot be extinguished.
Late Boomer
It is just me, but shouldn't the entire roof/top deck of this thing be covered in solar panels? Or even the sides, to pick up the light reflected off the water? And this isn't the first design to omit that stupid-simple feature. How do they miss the obvious every single time? Hint: With enough solar on-board, you don't need all those expensive batteries. pbethel, when you captained a boat, all the batteries were li ion. LiFePO4 don't burn nearly as well and batteries are getting better every day. Though I must agree, the thought of fire on a ship is terrifying. Good thing diesel boats don't have anything flammable on board.
jerryd
Most ships are already E powered from diesel generators like trains, so easy to make them battery powered. A lot of batteries though. And it'll have a backup generator for edge cases even once it is full battery.
Obviously pbethel has no clue on the batteries it will have, LFP, are extremely hard to start to or burn, just not going to happen on their own.
Coming from one piloting ships carrying a ton/s of FFs, I find that an ironic complaint.
michael_dowling
Battery power is best for short range applications such as ferries. Not at all a fan of fuel cell powered cars for multiple reasons,but for some applications such as ocean going ships,fuel cells are about the only way to supply clean power for extended periods,and can be fueled with cryogenic H2. However, green ammonia is also a good choice and much easier to store and use.
Hasler
The car ferry of tomorrow will be full of lithium batteries, in the trucks, in the cars and in everyone's mobiles. So more lithium batteries down in the two hulls may not alter the risk of fire. More interesting will be the size of the cables, etc. needed to recharge the batteries in just 40 minutes. Also the massive short-term load onto the local electricity grid. But this very costly solution using lithium will be rather pointless if the recharge power is generated from fossil fuel.
martinwinlow
Given that any electric boat would have to have its batteries very low down in the hull, simply partially flooding the hulls enough to immerse the battery would stop any fire immediately. Not something that's easy to do away from a water environment. This is the EV industry standard method for making a compromised EV (car) battery safe. It should (by now) also be the standard way for emergency services to deal with EV fires... Simply deploy a low level watertight skip big enough to take the largest likely-sized car, winch the burning vehicle into it and fill it with water.

And I don't want to pour cold water (sorry!) on all this but realistically it's going to be a hybrid... initially at least.
Most Viewed