logo
Electric ships are here — but they won't be crossing oceans yet

Electric ships are here — but they won't be crossing oceans yet

Electric shipping has reached a major milestone, but long-haul routes remain a distant dream.
This month Australian shipbuilder Incat launched Hull 096, a 427-foot fully electric ferry built for South American operator Buquebus.
The vessel, now docked in Hobart, Tasmania, is the largest electric vehicle ever built. It is designed to carry 2,100 passengers and 225 vehicles across the Río de la Plata between Buenos Aires and Uruguay and is powered by about 275 tons of batteries.
Incat's chairman and founder, Robert Clifford, said ships like Hull 096 are still best suited for short distances — not the open ocean.
Density dilemma
"There's not the slightest doubt that under 50 miles, electric will be virtually 100%," Clifford told Business Insider. "When you're talking 200 miles, it might only be 50%. Over that, it'd be zero at the moment."
He said the main issue was the limited energy density of batteries, which still don't offer the same storage capacity per weight and volume as fossil fuels.
That's why Incat is focusing on ferries for high-density, relatively short routes like those in the English Channel or the Baltic Sea instead of oceangoing ships.
"We're ferry boat builders," Clifford said. "Even a very large ferry for most routes would not go over about 160 meters."
Still, Clifford believes Hull 096 marks a turning point for clean maritime transport.
"The ship changes the game," he said in a press release earlier this month. "We've been building world-leading vessels here in Tasmania for more than four decades, and Hull 096 is the most ambitious, most complex, and most important project we've ever delivered."
The ferry boasts a 40 megawatt-hour battery — the largest installed on a ship — feeding eight waterjets designed by Finnish firm Wärtsilä.
The interior, which includes a 2,300-square-meter duty-free shopping deck, is set to be completed this year ahead of trials on Tasmania's Derwent River.
Buquebus had originally commissioned Hull 096 as a liquid natural gas-powered ferry, but Incat convinced the company to go electric.
And while Clifford is bullish on the tech, he said real-world adoption depends on port infrastructure and customer readiness. "We simply need the shipowner to do their sums."
He said there's been strong demand since Hull 096's launch and was in talks with a dozen "serious" clients from Europe and South America.
"I've been in this entrepreneurial business for 30-odd years, and we've never had so many serious potential orders," he said.
Growth challenge
Still, scaling production in Tasmania is a massive leap. "We've been building one or two boats a year," Clifford said. "Building four or more large boats a year is a massive increase in the size of the company," which would require going from 500 to 3,000 staff, he said.
"That's today's challenge — how do we transition to a significant shipbuilder?"
Whether Tasmania becomes a global hub for electric shipbuilding remains to be seen.
William "Boeing, for instance, had a small shipyard in Seattle," Clifford said. "It probably wasn't the best place in the world to start building airplanes. But he did, and then he sold 100 to the US Army.
"He suddenly went from a small boat builder to a leading aircraft manufacturer all in a period of about a year or two. That sort of challenge is ahead of us."

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Australia awaits American decision on AUKUS nuclear submarine pact
Australia awaits American decision on AUKUS nuclear submarine pact

UPI

time30 minutes ago

  • UPI

Australia awaits American decision on AUKUS nuclear submarine pact

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, Calif. in March of 2023. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo June 12 (UPI) -- Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles announced Thursday he feels that the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal which connects with the United Kingdom and United States, will continue after the Trump administration reviews the pact. "I am very confident this is going to happen," he told ABC News, as he believes AUKUS is of strategic interest to all three nations. The Pentagon has expressed that the 2021 deal is being reassessed to make sure it's a fit with President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda before he meets with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the G7 summit taking place in Canada next week. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also had met with Marles, who is also Australia's Minister for Defense, earlier this month and recommended Australia increase its defense spending to 3.5 percent of its GDP. Albanese said in a press conference Tuesday that he thinks "that Australia should decide what we spend on Australia's defense" when asked about a defense spending boost, while not directly addressing if he would risk losing the AUKUS deal over that decision as questioned. The Pentagon review is being led by U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby, who in the past has been critical of the deal made under the Biden administration to arm Australia with nuclear subs that use advanced American and British technology. "In principle it's a great idea," Colby posted to X about AUKUS in August of 2024," but added he's "agnostic" about the program. However, Colby also posted that day he was "convinced we should focus on Asia, readying for a war with China" in order to avoid it. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian announced Thursday in a press conference when asked about his nation's opinion on the possibility of an end to AUKUS that China opposes "manufacturing bloc confrontation and anything that amplifies the risk of nuclear proliferation and exacerbates arms race."

McLaren boss sends message to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri as F1 title race heats up
McLaren boss sends message to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri as F1 title race heats up

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

McLaren boss sends message to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri as F1 title race heats up

McLaren team principle Andrea Stella has urged Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to be open and vocal about any concerns stemming from their internal-team battle. The Italian boss of the team is keen to ensure that a potential rivalry between the drivers remains healthy and constructive rather than damaging McLaren's broader ambitions, as the duo vie for the drivers' title. Piastri currently leads his teammate by 10 points at the top of the standings. The call for transparency comes after a recent incident at the Spanish Grand Prix where Piastri described Norris as 'cheeky', after Norris appeared to benefit from a tow provided by his teammate during Q3, leading to surprise and confusion from the Australian driver. However, any irritation that Piastri felt was quickly put to rest when he beat the Brit to pole position. Stella insists that having two competitive drivers fighting at the front is not a problem. He said: 'It [qualifying] was a minor situation. We always tell our drivers, don't leave anything in the back of your mind. Anything, throw it out. Say what you think.' This is not the first time tensions have bubbled between the two, with tactical decisions in Hungary last season also presenting a tricky moment where driver maturity was called into question. Piastri led the majority of laps in Budapest before the second round of pit stops, when Norris took the lead before he was told to 're-establish the order' by the McLaren pit wall. Norris initially refused until, with three laps to go, he relented and allowed Piastri to pass, allowing the Australian to go on and claim his first grand prix victory. Their extra pace this season has been clear, with Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari all trailing the McLarens. Max Verstappen is the nearest rival in the drivers' standings, 49 points behind leader Piastri and 39 from Norris. The season resumes this weekend with the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, the 10th of 24 rounds, before returning to Europe for races in Austria, Britain, Belgium and Hungary.

Australia to boost aerial surveillance of Pacific for illegal fishing fleets
Australia to boost aerial surveillance of Pacific for illegal fishing fleets

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Australia to boost aerial surveillance of Pacific for illegal fishing fleets

By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia plans to significantly boost surveillance of Pacific Islands territorial waters, spending A$477 million ($310.72 million) on aerial patrols for illegal fishing fleets, tender documents viewed by Reuters show, as China takes steps towards sending its coast guard to the region. Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will visit Fiji on Friday, the Fiji Times newspaper reported, after the government of Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka last week approved a maritime security agreement that will see Australia fund a patrol boat for Fiji. Australia will operate commercial aerial patrols to support Pacific Island countries monitoring exclusive economic zones which span millions of kilometres of ocean. Efforts to tackle illegal fishing also led to a new monitoring centre being opened in Fiji in April. Australia's defence department declined to comment on the aerial tender, and Pacific Minister Pat Conroy did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters reported last week that China's coast guard is taking further steps towards high seas boarding of fishing boats in the Pacific for the first time, risking tensions with Taiwanese fleets that also ply the region. The Chinese Coast Guard demonstrated the capabilities of one of its largest ships, used to enforce maritime law in the Taiwan Strait, to 10 Pacific Island ministers, including Fiji's, in China a fortnight ago. China has registered 26 coast guard vessels for Pacific Ocean patrols with the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, although it is yet to conduct an inspection, WCPFC officials said. China declined to comment. Australia has gifted two dozen patrol boats to Pacific Island nations, and operates navy and air force patrols for illegal fishing in the region several times a year. Sangaa Clark, chief executive of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement, representing nine Pacific Island countries controlling the world's largest tuna fishery, said the group has not invited China to conduct coast guard patrols, and instead relied on Australian-funded surveillance and patrols by Australia, New Zealand, France and the United States. Pacific security expert Peter Connolly, a fellow at the University of New South Wales, said Chinese Coast Guard patrols in the region would "introduce geostrategic tensions to the policing of the Pacific's fisheries". "This is particularly likely because the two most common nationalities of illegal fishermen in the Pacific have been from the PRC and from Taiwan," he said, referring to the People's Republic of China. ($1 = 1.5352 Australian dollars)

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store