The world's first electrically-powered container ship called "Tesla of the canal" is in service in 2018

It was revealed that the "electric-powered cargo ship" jointly developed by the Dutch shipping company Port-Liner and the electric power company Werkina, will be launched in the summer of 2018. With the introduction of an electric cargo ship that takes the name of "Tesla of the canal", Port-Liner has shown that it is possible to dramatically reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Europe.

Port-Liner launches first emission-free barges on Europe's waterways - The Loadstar
https://theloadstar.co.uk/port-liner-launches-first-emission-free-barges-europes-waterways/

World's first electric container barges to sail from European ports this summer | Environment | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/24/worlds-first-electric-container-barges-to-sail-from-european-ports-this-summer

An electric cargo ship developed by Port-Liner is a transport ship planned to be navigated by canals running in inland areas of Belgium and the Netherlands. For cargo transport in Europe, cars such as trucks are used at 74.9%, use of railway is only 18.4%, cargo ship is only 6.7%. The purpose of introducing an electric cargo ship is to replace this freight car with an electric cargo ship so as to greatly reduce carbon dioxide emissions.


In the summer of 2018 summer, it is 52 meters in length, 6.7 meters in width, 24 types of 20 feet containers, capable of carrying up to 425 tons of luggage. Ships of this type can operate for 15 hours, because there is no large engine, the degree of freedom of layout is high, which is characterized by a large loading space of 8% compared to diesel ships. First of all, cargo shipping will begin from Antwerp, Amsterdam, Rotterdam ports. Since the electric cargo ship has an automatic driving function, basically it is possible to operate in the absence of a crew. However, at the beginning of service, due to the infrastructure maintenance work being done, it is expected that cargo will be transported with a crew on board.

In addition, it is planned to introduce 270 containers with a total length of 110 meters and to introduce large type which can operate for 35 hours continuously with 4 batteries in the future. We are planning to replace 23,000 trucks with the introduction of compact and large electric cargo ships, and it is estimated that the amount of carbon dioxide emission of 18,000 tons can be suppressed per year.

Port-Liner's electric cargo plan includes a subsidy of EUR 7 million (approx. 95 billion yen) from the EU and support funds from port related organizations, and development is carried out on the wave of electrification overheating in Europe I am progressing. In addition, according to Port-Liner, it is possible to produce 500 electric cargo ships annually, and it states that existing engine ships can be electrified.