Norwegian ferry operator Color Line has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with compatriot shipyard Ulstein Verft for the construction of the world’s largest hybrid vessel.
Planned to be deployed on the Sandefjord-Strömstad service from summer 2019, the new ferry is a plug-in hybrid, where the batteries are recharged via a power cable with green electricity from their own shore facilities or recharged on board by the ship’s generators.
The world’s largest plug-in hybrid ferry will be 160 metres long and have a capacity of 2,000 passengers and about 500 cars.
“This is an important milestone for us, and we are very pleased that we have been chosen as partner in this very exciting project. We are looking forward to the further cooperation with Color Line,” Gunvor Ulstein, Ulstein Group CEO, said.
The vessel, with the working title Color Hybrid, will have almost double capacity as M/S Bohus, which is scheduled to be phased out when the new ferry will be put into operation.
Color Hybrid will have full battery power into and out of the fjord to Sandefjord, Ulstein said, adding that it will therefore “not give emissions of harmful greenhouse gases or nitrogen and sulphur compounds in this area.”