KM to propel new electric ferry

Expected to enter service in 2024, the Scandlines zero-emissions vessel has been designed by LMG Marin in Norway and will be constructed at Cemre Shipyard in Turkey.

“Scandlines is setting an example which is destined to secure the viability of freight ferries in an environmentally-conscious world,” said Roy Egil Høydal, senior sales manager, Seaborn & Pax, Kongsberg Maritime, “and we’re very proud to be associated with such a responsible, game-changing project.”

The new 147.4m ferry will carry a maximum of 140 passengers and 66 cargo trucks at a service speed of 16 knots and will be equipped with Kongsberg’s pulling azimuth thruster, Azipull. The thruster will be delivered with controllable pitch propellers, in an L-drive configuration with an integrated permanent magnet drive motor. This increases overall energy efficiency while reducing noise and vibrations, as well as reducing the physical footprint of the thruster system compared to previous deliveries.

Kongsberg will also be supplying its Mcon Propulsion & Thruster control system to control and monitor the ferry’s propulsion and steering.

The new freight ferry will operate the crossing between Puttgarden, on the German island of Fehmarn, and Rødby in Denmark. Emission-free crossings will be completed in one hour and 10 minutes. The vessel could also be operated as a hybrid ferry, reducing the journey time to 45 minutes.

Updating the infrastructure to support the new electric ferry and its planned successors is already in hand: The 50kV / 25MW power cable which Scandlines laid in Rødby harbour in 2019 is being extended to the ferry berths, where a transformer and charging station will also be installed.