Four autonomous electric ferries ordered

The contract includes the delivery of two ferries with four auto-mooring facilities and two charging stations, a simulator facility and a remote control centre. The tender was awarded for SEK1,000 million (USD88.5m) covers the entire procurement.

The ferries, measuring 86m by 14.24m with a 60-car carrying capacity, are intended to be autonomous to IMO level 2 standard, meaning that the vessels are remotely monitored, but do have crew on board who can take control whenever necessary. 

The ferries will serve ljusteröleden and Vaxholmsleden within the Stockholm archipelago, but will be controlled from a remote control centre based in Stockholm. Their operation along the route will be handled with just the push of a button. While mooring, the vessels will be charged by a shore charging facility within approximately four minutes.

The implementation of autonomous sailing technology is intended to increase passenger safety in the long run. When a fully operational system is in place, situations can be dealt with in an entirely consistent manner, reducing the risk of unexpected actions.

Reducing the dependency on crew on board requires that many systems are remotely operable and redundant, so that, when one way of operation fails, another route remains available. This means that there will be a lot of data handled by the ship’s integrated automations system. The system in turn will be mirrored in the remote control centre, allowing onshore monitoring personnel full access to all the ship’s vital functions.

The first ferry is scheduled to be delivered in the second half of 2024.

Holland Shipyards Group has delivered many electric and hybrid ferries in north-west Europe over the past five years.