NEW Zealand company Fullers360 has signed a contract with Incat Crowther to design an Incat Crowther 32 electric ferry, to be deployed in the company’s Auckland ferry fleet.
The new vessel is Fullers360’s first step towards building a fleet that eliminates the use of fossils fuels on Auckland Harbour.
To be built by Q-West, the ferry will be the designer’s sixth from the builder and will join 10 other Incat Crowther ferries in the Fullers360 fleet.
Designed specifically for the route, the vessel will provide an efficient, low-emission, quiet service between Auckland and Devonport, reducing carbon emissions by 750,000kg per year.
The vessel cabin is modular, with the main deck configured for metro operations and overflow capacity to the upper deck.
Flexibility is provided by an enhanced capability to operate on other routes on the network. The drivetrain features the ability to employ a pair of range-extending generators that can be used in conjunction with the battery bank. This technology supports the electrification transition whilst the charging network is expanded to allow all electric operation on longer trips.
The design is also compatible to be refitted with hydrogen fuel for increased range as the fuel becomes more widely available in the future.
The vessel is also designed to be fully compatible with Auckland’s newly developed Downtown Ferry Basin terminal.
The vessel’s drivetrain consists of four Danfoss EM-PMI540-T4000 electric motors directly mounted to Hamilton HTX42 water jets, with a battery arsenal of 1944kWh to achieve maximum speeds over 28 knots.
An advanced energy management system controls the deployment of the system over a range of usage profiles.
As well as the primary electric-only profile, the vessel can extend its range by a mode directly feeding the propulsion motors from the generators, a mode that charges the batteries from the generators, and a hybrid boost mode that combines both sources.
