COSCO unveils electric container ship

COSCO Shipping Development, the financing arm of Chinese state giant COSCO Shipping, has announced the launch of a 700 teu electric container ship which will serve a regular 1,000-km route up and down the Yangtze River.

The 10,000 dwt vessel will be powered by 36 portable container-sized batteries and have two 900 kW main propulsion engines.

COSCO said that the vessel was launched at the No. 1 dock of COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry in Yangzhou. The vessel, on its route from Shanghai to Wuhan, will be operated by Shanghai Pan Asia Shipping, a COSCO subsidiary.

The inland vessel is 119.8 m long and 23.6 m wide. In comparison, it is nowhere near the size of ocean-faring containerships which can carry up to 24,000 containers and are up to three times as long.

The vessel will not be able to run the entire 1,000 km route on the batteries it is carrying onboard. It will rather replace its batteries, when necessary, in ports along the way. There are 30 container ports along the 2,700 km of the Yangtze navigable waterway.

Ports allow for ships to enter and then winch depleted batteries off and charged batteries on the vessel. Such a way of operating can reportedly reduce carbon emissions by approximately 32 tons per 24 hours.

COSCO is also the founder of the China Electric Ship Innovation Alliance. Top national authorities and more than 80 companies have joined the alliance, helping cement the country’s position as one of the world’s leaders when it comes to the electrification of shipping with the Yangtze serving as a petri-dish for much of this innovation.