Cosco Shipping Development, a company in China’s COSCO group, has floated out its first all-electric container ship from the No 1 dock at Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry (Yangzhou).
According to the company, the successful launch of the ship marks an important breakthrough in the application of pure battery-powered ships in the inland waterway field. Cosco Shipping Development’s future plans are to continue to dedicate itself to the promotion and application of electric vessels in domestic inland coastal waters, and provide green zero-carbon shipping solutions.
The ship, 119.8m long, and of 700 TEU capacity, is powered by two 900kW electric propulsion motors, which Cosco Shipping Development believes make it the most powerful electric container vessel afloat, with the largest installed battery capacity yet onboard a ship. The batteries are said to be housed in up to 36 standard-sized 20ft containers, which can be exchanged at recharging stations along the vessel’s Yangtse River route.
The ship features a smart management system designed to adjust energy consumption, taking into account river current, remaining battery capacity, and scheduled arrival time.
A second vessel is under construction at the Yangzhou shipyard.
