In a technical achievement that places Australia at the forefront of sustainable maritime transport, a company has launched the world’s largest fully electric ship, At 130 metres long, Hull 096 is the largest electric vehicle of its kind ever built, with its maker named “Tjana Zoria,” in honor of the famous Uruguayan actress.
The vessel, which was launched in Tasmania by shipbuilder Incat, has been constructed for South American ferry operator Buquebus.
Will ply between its hailing port of Montevideo
Driven by battery-electric power, the vehicular ferry will ply the waters between its hailing port of Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital, two other Uruguayan towns and Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires.
The Tasmanian-based company delivered this giant project to a South American ferry operator, connecting Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Uruguay, across the River Plate that separates the two countries.
A capacity of up to 2,100 passengers and 225 vehicles
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It will have a capacity of up to 2,100 passengers and 225 vehicles and will operate as China Zorrilla, named after a Uruguayan star of film and theatre who died in 2014.The vessel’s interior, which will include a duty-free retail shopping deck measuring 2,300 square metres — the equivalent of about 100 average-sized Australian homes — is yet to be completed.Once finished, it will make for the largest shopping space on any ferry in the world, Incat said.
The company aspires to replicate this model globally
Robert Clifford, Chairman of the company that launched the ship, said, “We have built advanced ships for more than 40 years, but this project is the most ambitious, complex, and significant in our history.”
He added that the company aspires to replicate this model globally, both within Australia and abroad, as part of a vision to reduce the carbon footprint of maritime transport.This step represents a qualitative advance in the adoption of clean energy technologies in the shipping sector and opens the door to a more sustainable future for maritime navigation around the world.
