INCAT Tasmania’s pride and joy, the world’s largest battery-electric ship, began formal trials on Friday [16 January] and these continued over the weekend in Hobart’s River Derwent.
The harbour trials will see the vessel undertake 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.
The trials represent the first time a ship of this size and passenger-vehicle capacity has operated solely on battery power anywhere in the world, marking a major step forward for large-scale electric shipping.
China Zorrilla, built for Argentina’s Buquebus and named after a Uruguayan actress described as the Grand Dame of South American theatre, will operate on the Rio de la Plata between Colonia del Sacramento (Montevideo), Uruguay and Buenos Aires, Argentina carrying up to 2,100 passengers and 225 vehicles per crossing.
The 130-metre catamaran’s propulsion system comprises eight electric 2.2 MW waterjets powered by a 40 MWh Corvus Energy Dolphin lithium-ion battery system built in Norway, weighing over 250 tonnes.
This system, supplied by Finnish company Wärtsilä, features the largest battery installed on a ship, enabling the ferry to operate entirely on electric power. The battery system is arranged in four separate rooms and has 12 battery arrays with 418 modules each, for a total of 5,016 battery units. Weight and temperature are critical aspects, so the modules are not rack mounted, and each module has a cooling fan.
Incat states that the weight of the electric system is lighter than the equivalent diesel engines and associated LNG components, which was the engine/fuel configuration originally proposed by Buquebus when it originally commissioned the builder in 2020.
Hull No. 96, as the vessel is still officially known, will make three crossings daily, each of 30 nautical miles minutes. The ferry can sail for around 90 minutes on a single charge; parts of the route are only 2.5 m deep, requiring low weight and smaller waterjets.
Incat Chairman Robert Clifford said the commencement of harbour trials was a critical moment for the project and the global maritime industry.
“This is the moment where the ship truly comes alive,” Mr Clifford said.
“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.”
Unlike the previous eight ferries Incat has built for Buquebus, delivery of China Zorrilla under its own power will be impractical, thus in late February or early March, assuming successful completion of all trials, it will be loaded on a semi-submersible heavy-lift ship in Hobart for the journey to South America.