Veer’s TRUE Zero Emission Containerships receives Approval in Principle from ABS - World’s First Liquid Hydrogen powered Vessel, Norled’s Hydra, Completes Historic Bunkering 

Fellow disruptors and innovators,

As I am sure you are aware, ZESTAs has secured consultative status at the IMO. We’re getting straight to work writing an informational document for MEPC 80 about True Zero Emission Ship Technologies as well as contributing to relevant correspondence groups. Our mission is to ensure that such technologies are known and considered by delegations when deciding policy and standards, especially for vessels currently left out of regulation, such as those under 5000 GT and offshore vessels.

Please send us updated information on your True Zero technologies so we can ensure policy makers at the highest level know the facts.

ZESTAs is continuing to have an international impact by traveling to industry events around the globe. In April, I will be back in Asia for Singapore Maritime Week and Sea Asia, Asia Anchor Maritime & Offshore Energy. Please contact me if your company is interested in wider publicity in the Asian maritime sphere and would like to sponsor ZESTAs Asian activities.

Some dates for the calendar:

• Our AGM will be on the 8th of June at NorShipping in Oslo
• Our next in person workshop will be held on 11th & 12th of September at International Maritime Organisation headquarters in London in conjunction with London International Maritime Week
• All events ZESTAs will be attending are on our website here.

I look forward to seeing new and old faces in upcoming events, where I am happy to discuss furthering collaboration.

There’s loads of exciting news to kick off the new year, so do read on!

Madadh MacLaine

Latest news from our Members

• Veer Nominated for Prestigious Earthshot Climate Prize
• Zero Emission Containerships Get Approval in Principle from ABS
• NAVTEK Announces Wave of Disruptive Zero Emission Vessels Including Launch of Three All-electric Tugboats 
• Nedstack Upscale Fuel Cell Gigawatt Factory on the Rhine
• PowerCell Signs Letter of Intent on World’s Largest Marine Hydrogen Fuel Cell Project
• Shift Clean Energy Accelerates Electrification of Singapore’s Offshore and Cargo Sectors 
• Liquid Hydrogen Bunkering Infrastructure and Autonomous Vessels Receive UK Government Grant
• ARENA Ocean Hyway Cluster Charges Ahead to Deliver Norwegian Green Hydrogen
• World’s First Liquid Hydrogen-Powered Vessel Completes Historic Bunkering

Our members are eligible for an exclusive 20% discount code.

The mission, innovation, progress and leadership at Veer has led the Blue Action Lab of the Bahamas to officially nominate Veer for the coveted Earthshot Prize. There are 5 categories of Earthshot prizes, and Veer has been nominated in the “Fix Our Climate” category. This is a highly selective and competitive prize in the climate and tech world, and Veer is honoured to be among those nominated.

“Receiving this nomination is a great honour. We believe strongly in what we look to achieve, and a nomination like this reinforces the idea that the world wants and needs us” says Danielle Southcott, CEO and founder of Veer.

On the heels of this nomination, Danielle, has been asked to represent Veer as a panellist at Monaco Ocean Week, at an event organised by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. This is another great recognition of the work and vision of Veer.

Concurrently, Veer has also been nominated for the Global Talent Award by The Ocean Opportunity Lab (TOOL). The Global Talent Award is an award for outstanding change-makers who embody the principles of sustainable development.

Veer will provide a fast, clean service to a market struggling with the notoriously hard-to-abate shipping sector. Veer’s first solution uses hydrogen fuel cells combined with wind for increased speed and range.

Zero Emission Containerships Get Approval in Principle from ABS

Veer Corp. announced the granting of Approval in Principle (AIP) by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). This milestone is a major step for Veer on its mission to build the world’s 1st fleet of 100% clean, ocean-going container vessels. These hybrid zero emission vessels will integrate hydrogen fuel cells, wind propulsion and batteries.

The vessel is to carry 160 TEU at a speed of 18 knots over a range of 1600 nm. Veer will incorporate the DynaRig sail technology developed by Southern Spars and Magma Structures used on large yachts including the Maltese Falcon and the Black Pearl. Two vessels are planned to be launched by the end of 2024 for an eventual fleet of six.

“Receiving this AiP from a recognized organisation such as ABS sets Veer apart from other conceptual projects.” says Danielle Doggett, CEO at Veer.

‘’The world needs us to progress much more rapidly in decarbonising transport, globally. Lush’s commitment to decarbonise our global transport is dependent on partnerships with innovative organisations like Veer. Our roadmap means being early adopters of hydrogen shipping and so we are very excited at the possibility of partnering with Veer’s first vessel. The prospect of a direct partnership and meticulously designed vessels to enable efficient service, brings us much needed hope.’’ said a spokesperson from Lush.

Veer looks forward to receiving tender responses to their bid package from shipyards and is now focused on selecting a shipyard.

Three disruptive zero emission ZEETUGs have recently met the sea in Istanbul, with another larger vessel expected in March 2023. Mr. Murat Avinal describes NAVTEK Naval Technologies' recent zero emission game-changer vessels and a host of other zero emission projects in the pipeline.

Three ZEETUG30 vessels have been launched in Tuzla, İstanbul with a Bollard Pull (BP) of 30, while their sister ZEETUG45 will have 45 BP and azimuth stern drive propulsion. Designs of bigger sisters up to 80 BP are now finalised. A new feature added to all ZEETUGs is regeneration of energy while pushing large vessels.

Mr Avinal notes that during the first 1010 days of service, Gisas Power ZEETUG30 completed 2749 operations translating to 4241 motor running hours and cumulative charging of around 788162 kWh. The tugboats avoided 560.6 tonnes of CO2 and 1.59 tonnes of NOx. Furthermore, public health impacts of PM (Particulate Matter) pollution and significant marine noise pollution have also been avoided.

Furthermore, the new patent-pending QCS (Quick Charging Station, 2x600 kW) provides onshore generation charging. NAVTEK’s QCS can fully charge a ZEETUG with Corvus-supplied lithium-ion batteries on board in less than one hour.

Other exciting and highly disruptive NAVTEK projects are on the way. The award-winning H2YDROTUG60, a hydrogen-battery hybrid 60BP tugboat, is due to begin construction in 2023 and incorporates a revolutionary low-pressure solid-state hydrogen storage system and fuel cell systems integrated into the proven ZEETUG design.

NAVTEK has also designed an all-electric special passenger ferry for İzmir City and is building on the integrated ZEEPORT project, having completed a Norwegian Government grant call to prepare a port decarbonisation feasibility study in collaboration with ECOBARGE and Port of Gothenburg.

Nedstack Fuel Cell Technology and Zentrum für BrennstoffzellenTechnik (ZBT) GmbH partnered to commit to industrialising hydrogen fuel cell technology. Nedstack aims to increase production to Gigawatt scale by 2027.

The partnership between Arnhem-based Nedstack and ZBT in Duisburg aims to capitalise on the Rhine region’s frontrunning position in industrialised green hydrogen development, which already boasts over 2100 tonnes per year of hydrogen produced from renewable electricity.

The position of Nedstack’s planned production is strategically placed to supply the Rhine’s large inland vessel sector, which is transitioning now to zero emissions hydrogen propulsion as seen on Future Proof Shipping’s retrofit of the 110m inland container vessel FPS Maas with a 825 kW Nedstack fuel cell system as well as 504 kWh of ESS battery packs.

Nedstack has announced further international industrial collaboration agreements through two Partners for International Business (PIB) public-private partnerships: an MoU for long-term cooperation on hydrogen with Australia between the Dutch Government and Hydrogen Australia Cluster as well as PIB HyNed program in partnership with China.

PowerCell has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to negotiate final terms concerning one of the world’s largest hydrogen fuel cell projects in the marine industry. The project in northern Norway comprises two ferries for passengers and cargo transport which will be powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

The project is headed by Norwegian electrical integrator SEAM, a leading supplier of integrated zero emission solutions to the maritime industry. The final contract is expected to be signed March 3rd 2023 at the latest.

As part of the project, PowerCell will deliver its PowerCellution Marine System 200 which will power the ferries with 6 MW of power each by stacking 200 kW fuel cells. The solution has a flexible product design with high power to weight ratio, safe operation and can easily be customised to the energy needs of different projects. The Marine System 200 is also very durable and well adapted to the challenging marine environment and service life of marine vessels.

“We are very excited that PowerCell has been chosen as the sole supplier of this project,” says Richard Berkling, CEO of PowerCell. “This shows that we have a world-leading and industrial stable product offering and ability to create unique solutions tailored to customer needs.”

Shift Clean Energy has signed an MoU with Terasaki Electric Co. to electrify the 874 GT FOS Orion offshore service vessel (OSV) using Shift’s proprietary fixed battery system to transition the vessel from conventional diesel to hybrid-electric. The 422 kWh containerized ESS system will be connected with the vessel’s electrical system for peak shaving and hotel loads. RINA will provide Approval in Principle (AiP).

The operator Fast Offshore Supply (FOS) is one of Asia’s largest offshore crew vessel operators and is known for designing, building and operating advanced fleets of Fast Multi-purpose Supply Vessels (FMSV).

This builds on Shift’s announcement last year of supplying its PwrSwäp pay-as-you-go renewable energy subscription service to the first all-electric battery swapping vessel in the Port of Singapore. The news was shared at a keel laying ceremony led by SeaTech Solutions International (SeaTech), Yinson GreenTech (YGT), and Goal Zero consortium members.

When launched later in 2023, the 18.5m all-electric Hydromover will carry 25 tons of cargo at 50% of the cost of conventional operators. The electric solution will reduce the vessel’s emissions to zero, avoiding 752 tonnes of GHG emissions. Around 100 vessels have registered interest for PwrSwäp and 12 locations are planned to open by mid-2023.

A consortium including ZESTAs members Unitrove, ZEM Tech and ACUA Ocean will receive over £3.8 million as part of the United Kingdom’s Clean Maritime Innovate UK grant from the Department for Transport (DfT).

The “Hydrogen Innovation – Future Infrastructure & Vessel Evaluation and Demonstration (HI-FIVED)” project, led by ACUA Ocean, will build and showcase an innovative autonomous vessel and bunkering infrastructure technologies for liquid hydrogen. 

The £5.4m project is expected to be delivered in autumn of 2024 and aims to establish a domestic green shipping corridor between Aberdeen and the Orkney and Shetland Islands, with hydrogen-powered autonomous ships being used to transport cargo.

The HI-FIVED consortium involves several other key players in the maritime industry including the Port of Aberdeen, the University of Southampton, Composite Manufacturing and Design, Trident Marine Electrical, and NASH Maritime.

Unitrove, creator of the world’s first liquid hydrogen bunkering facility, will look to deploy its mobile fuelling technology at the Port of Aberdeen in support of ACUA Ocean’s bid to build and operate the world’s first maritime autonomous surface ship powered by liquid hydrogen. Unitrove’s mobile bunkering facility is able to deliver 500 litres per minute of hydrogen.

Steven Lua, CEO of Unitrove, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to receive UK government support to enable real-world demonstration of the world’s first liquid hydrogen autonomous vessel and infrastructure. Having built such a strong consortium of eight fantastic partners across the supply-chain, we can have great confidence that we will deliver something truly remarkable.”

Michael Tinmouth, COO of ACUA Ocean, said: “Delivering successful technology demonstrations is critical to de-risking future investment in maritime decarbonisation. This CMDC3 project brings together a consortium of innovative partners, subcontractors, and suppliers from across the maritime sector, who are all laser-focused on the need to reduce emissions and accelerate the adoption and commercialisation of new technologies.”

Five ARENA member companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop a complete hydrogen value chain for Northern Xplorer’s cruise ship. The zero-emission cruise ship will be a hybrid hydrogen-electric vessel with fuel cells and electric propulsion. It will be part of a series of 14 new emission-free cruise ships designed by Multi Maritime AS, each with a capacity of 250 passengers. The plans will meet Norway’s government regulation which bans ships burning fossil fuels in world heritage fjords by 2026.

The partnership has all the components to supply the first of the cruise ships with green hydrogen, as well as make pollution-free hydrogen available to the wider maritime market. They include Norwegian Hydrogen AS, a hydrogen provider and infrastructure owner, HYON AS, a high-capacity hydrogen transfer system supplier and Hexagon Purus Maritime AS, a hydrogen storage system provider.

Furthermore, green hydrogen production in Norway is set to increase with another electrolyser coming online at the end of Q1 2023. A HyProvide™ A90 electrolyser was delivered to Stord Hydrogen in January, the result of a partnership agreement between Liquiline and the Danish electrolysis supplier Green Hydrogen Systems. 

The 0.9 MW electrolyser will produce 140 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. Liquiline and Green Hydrogen Systems will supply a similar electrolyser for a project in Egersund by Q2 2023, with Dalane Energi as the customer.

M/F Hydra, the world’s first Liquid Hydrogen (LH2)-propelled vessel has completed several successful bunkering operations ahead of its imminent commercial operation carrying passengers between islands in the West of Norway.

The 82.4m Hydra ferry can carry 300 passengers and 80 cars and has a range of 1000 nm on a full 80m3 tank at route speed (10 knots). The vessel is currently undergoing final testing and approvals from all parties where the IMO alternative design process is utilised to prove LH2 as a maritime fuel. The vessel features 2 x 200kW FCwave® fuel cells by Ballard Power Systems and generators of 2 x 440kW powering two Schottel thrusters.

The hydrogen fuel is delivered by tube truck from a 24 MW green electrolyser in Germany by Linde while Norwegian supply catches up with demand. Maritime demand is expected to accelerate now that LH2 technology is approved by flag and DNV.