You may not have heard much about large electric ships, for a simple reason: there aren't many of them currently. Therefore, when a company announces the upcoming launch of the "world's largest electric ship," the impact may not be as dramatic as the name suggests. But for the maritime industry, it could mean a disruptive revolution.
The company making this announcement is Incat Tasmania. This Australian company, which has been building catamaran ferries for the past four decades, claims it is about to rewrite maritime history. All this is thanks to an electric ferry, hull number 096. Behind this seemingly ordinary number lies a groundbreaking achievement for the entire maritime industry.
This 130-meter (426-foot) giant vessel will be able to carry over 2,100 passengers and 225 cars, operating for ferry operator Buquebus on its route between Argentina and Uruguay.
The ship was initially planned to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), but the plan was ultimately changed to an all-electric drive system. This system consists of a 250-ton battery pack with a storage capacity of 40 megawatts.
According to multiple sources, this is equivalent to four times the energy storage of any existing electric ship, roughly equivalent to the combined battery capacity of 487 Tesla electric vehicles. This energy will propel the ship to a maximum speed of 46 km/h (29 mph).
Despite its massive battery array, the Hull 096's range is not particularly impressive due to its enormous weight. Its maximum range on a single charge is approximately 185 kilometers (115 miles). Although news of the vessel had been circulating for some time, Incat's latest announcement that this "largest electric vehicle in history"—and its most important product—will be fully unveiled on May 2, 2025, has brought it back into the spotlight.
One of the project's key partners is Wärtsilä, a renowned power equipment manufacturer in the energy and marine industries. Wärtsilä will provide 40 MWh battery modules, eight electric motors, and eight axial-flow WXJ1100 jet propulsion units.
Buquebus calls the ship a light catamaran RoPax (ro-ro passenger ship), which will have the world's largest duty-free shopping deck space (2,300 square meters / 25,000 square feet) among ships of its type.
Incat plans to normalize the construction of such large electric vessels (and potentially even larger ones in the future), a move that could give rise to entirely new categories of ships. This groundbreaking ultra-large all-electric ferry should be operational in South America by the end of 2025.
