Large electric ships with China Ocean Shipping Group. With Greenwater 01 it dispels the myth that electric boating is reserved only for boats for the lake. We wrote about electric container ships in 2020 (read here), but now the dimensions are changing.
Greenwater 01 with 10,000 tons and 50,000 kWh of batteries
The state-owned Chinese giant has launched the all-electric container ship largest in the world. Here are the numbers: 10,000 tons, 120 meters long, 23 meters wide with motors powered by batteries with capacity of 50,000 kWh. Navigate without hydrogenconsidered the power system for boating.
A study of ICOMIA (International Council of Marine Industry Associations), we wrote about it here, i.e World Nautical Confindustria relativizes full electric propulsion to a few uses and limited types of boats, in particular jet skis. But the applications are much broader.
Of course, this is an arduous challenge. But the Chinese communists (lovers of capitalism) think they have won.
This is also thanks to the resources available, because for trafficking from Shanghai to Nanjing you need a lot of batteries. Here are the numbers (read in the South China Morning Post): The main battery pack – with LFP chemistry – is equipped with a capacity of over 50,000 kWh.
It had already been launched in China in 2020 – when we wrote about it – Zhongtiandianyun 001 which transports 1000 tons of goods, but now with Cosco it goes up to 10,000. The gap widens on the battery side: from 1,458 kWh to 50,000 (but it can also reach 80 thousand). Almost 50 times more capacity.
Additional boxes for longer ship routes
But it didn’t end here. On board of Greenwater 01 there is room for more additional battery boxes which allow you to navigate longer routes. Each battery box stores 1,600 kWhthe space is that of the standard 20 foot container (about six metres).
With 24 battery boxes on board, the Greenwater 01 can complete a journey that requires 80,000 kWh which allow savings 15 tons of fuel compared to a standard container ship.
According to Cosco, the vessel can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2,918 tonnes per yearequivalent to taking 2,035 cars off the road.
Two more electric vessels: N997 and N998 for the Yangtze River
Cosco’s electrification is wide-ranging. It also launched two electric container ships from 700 TEU built by subsidiary Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry delivered on December 28, 2023.
It’s about river container ships to build an electrical grid for ships along the Yangtze River. The investment in river infrastructure is interesting. When we wrote about it in 2020, the numbers of charging stations were already high: “Jiangsu province it installed 4,918 in eight cities along the Yangtze River“.
One of the many often exaggerated alarms concerns fires on board, despite the fact that with a simple Google search, boats with combustion engines on fire are recorded every day. The problem is taken into consideration. “The crew follows a specialized firefighting training to handle battery emergencies and the vessel has a fire detection and alarm system designed for the battery compartment“.
Even all-electric boating?
If they launch all electric ferries in Northern Europe – from 2026 only battery-powered excursions in the fjords – and even such impressive full electric container ships Is the electrification of maritime trade within reach?
Attention, let’s talk about short routes. Or quite safe like those by riverthanks also to capillarity of the charging networkand with limited cruising speed.
Cosco’s container ship at its best sails at 19.4 km/h (around 10 knots) and with electric propulsion, speed is the key to reducing consumption and exponentially increasing autonomy.
In a large country like China where internal waterways have a strong commercial importance, significant investments are possible. Without forgetting the strong political will to reduce pollution. The Yangtze River is one of the busiest in the world and most boats run on diesel. One of the main sources of pollution in the area.
In short, electric container ships are also doing well, but for the majority of international traffic that travels ocean routes, electric is not yet the solution.
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