World’s largest battery-electric ship starts harbour trials in Australia

Australian shipbuilder Incat Tasmania celebrated another milestone moment last week, with the beginning of harbour trials in the River Derwent for the world’s largest battery-electric ship.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWE-EOToXNE

Incat Tasmania, based in Hobart, is Australia’s largest commercial shipyard, one of the few globally capable of producing large aluminium vessels for the international market, and among the few shipbuilders in the world building large-scale battery-electric vessels.

Among those vessels is the 130-metre-long Hull 096, destined for South American customer Buquebús which started out life as a planned gas-powered ferry before it was decided to make it a 100 per cent battery-electric ferry instead.

The world’s largest battery-electric ship, Hull 096 – as it is currently known – has been hitting milestone after milestone.

And while Hull 096 will boast a smaller carrying space than the Bastø Electric ferry operating in Norway and built by the Turkish Sefine Shipyard, it will nevertheless be the largest in terms of its battery capacity, which comes in at 40 megawatt-hours (MWh) of installed capacity – four times larger than any previous maritime battery installation in the world.

The first of four of Hull 096’s “battery rooms” was energised back in October, before an official e-motor trial in December fully powered up the vessel’s battery systems.

A month later, and Hull 096 has begun its all-important harbour trials in the River Derwent, marking the first time Hull 096 has moved under its own battery-electric propulsion. For Incat Tasmania, this signals the transition from construction to operational testing.

Harbour trials for Hull 096 will include a carefully managed series of movements on the Derwent, allowing crews to test propulsion, manoeuvrability, control systems, and onboard operational performance in real-world conditions.

“This is the moment where the ship truly comes alive,” said Robert Clifford, Incat chairman.

“Moving Hull 096 under its own battery-electric power is a world first at this scale and confirms that electric propulsion is viable for large commercial vessels.”

“Harbour trials allow us to test how all systems perform together in the water. It’s a significant step towards delivery and another major milestone in the evolution of sustainable shipbuilding.”

Trials will continue up to the vessel’s delivery to South America.