Marie Launes

TrAM partners are now half-way into the project. The work on the Stavanger zero-emission fast ferry is progressing well, and construction will start in spring 2021.

In November, all project participants gathered to discuss progress and project status. Key discussion topics where progress in the different tasks and whether the project is meeting its objectives of developing new production methods for electric vessels that will lead to 25% reduction in production costs and 75% reduction in engineering hours.

– We are on a good path towards meeting our objectives. I am impressed by the good cooperation between the partners and the high-quality deliverables submitted, Project Coordinator Mikal Dahle of Kolumbus said.

Two years into the project the participants have delivered half of the project deliverables. Six out of nine milestones are closes, such as model testing reports and modularity and production methods reports.

During the last 12 months the project has conducted model testing of the Stavanger demonstrator at HSVA’s testing tank in Hamburg and completed a HAZID workshop. The project has continuous focus on sharing information with stakeholders, and TrAM has been presented on a range of seminar and conferences. In 2020 TrAM has also arranged three workshops where different projects and initiatives shared their knowledge within topics such as electric vessels, safety, and modular production methods.  

Construction starts in 2021

A key part of the TrAM project is the development and construction of a fully electric zero emission fast ferry for the city of Stavanger – “the Stavanger demonstrator”. A ship building contract between Kolumbus and Fjellstrand was signed in July 2020, and construction will start at Fjellstrand yard in Norway in spring 2021.

The energy system for the vessel is developed by Wärtsilä. The general design of the system is completed, with safety and energy efficiency as key focus areas. Wärtsilä has also done evaluations of shore charging systems, and this work is ongoing.

New modular production methods

There is nowadays a dominant belief that complete optimisation is the only way to design a ship. This is a result of today’s extremely specified tender processes, which lead to one-off ships due to all the requirements vessel owners include in their order specifications. The TrAM project is challenging this traditional thinking by implementing modular design methods and production technologies to shipbuilding. The approach is based on the idea of supporting module identification using a consistent, domain-spanning system model.

– Modularisation is an established methodology from other industries (e.g. automotive or aviation), providing the necessary instruments to solve the contradiction between individuality and standardisation. By developing modular product architectures, it is possible to combine single modules that adapt the product to individual customer needs or boundary conditions, says Dr.-Ing. Christoph Jürgenhake, Group Manager Integrated Mechatronic Systems at Fraunhofer IEM, the research institute that is leading the work on modularisation within the project.

The main objectives of the work are to develop a modular ship design concept and to define what modules are applicable for high-speed vessels. TrAM will also look at how the modules developed should be produced.

– In the first half of the project, we have gathered information amongst other from data collection, analysis of system requirements and through expert interviews. We have defined the macro modules that will be the starting point for the sub-systems integration. Next, we will develop a platform architecture that can later be adapted to different use cases, Jürgenhake says.

What is next?

The production of the Stavanger demonstrator vessel will start in Q2 2021 and the final order for charging infrastructure will be placed in Q1 2021. Commissioning will start in February 2022, and the vessel will be delivered to customer Kolumbus in March 2022.

The TrAM project will now also intensify the partners work with two replicator cases for London and the inland waterways in Belgium. The use cases will have different requirements than the Stavanger demonstrator, for example when it comes to speed, deck height, vessel draught and shore side infrastructure. These replicators will be developed to explore opportunities for similar zero emission vessels in other routes in Europe.

Today in London, there is a growing focus on improving air quality with the introduction of new regulations and strategies for traffic both on road and sea. In the EU project TrAM Thames Clippers is looking into electric operation to consider how to become greener and more operationally efficient in the future.

In recent years, several initiatives have been launched to improve air quality in London, such as the ultra-low emission zone for road traffic in the city centre and the Port of London Authority’s  Air Quality Strategy for the tidal Thames.    

Each year Thames Clippers transports over 4 million commuters and tourists up and down the River Thames in London. The operator runs six routes and a high frequency of departures from key London piers 363 days a year. 

Since the start in 1999, the Thames Clippers service has moved from a one-boat service to operating a fleet of 20 vessels connecting passenger to their homes, places of work and river-side attractions. The company has always been a leader within change and innovation and minimising emission is high on the agenda.

“For some time, we have been seeking to deliver a hybrid electric solution but until the last 18 months, the technology has not been a viable option for high speed crafts. Being part of the TrAM project provided us with the opportunity to explore the current capability of electric batteries for our type of multi stop service”, says Chief Operating Officer  of Thames Clippers, Geoff Symonds.

In 2019 the TrAM project was awarded 11.7 Million Euros from EU’s Horizon2020 research programme to develop an electric high-speed passenger vessel to operate between Stavanger and Hommersak on the west coast of Norway. The project will also conduct two studies for the same type of vessel in London and the inland waterways of Belgium to explore opportunities for similar zero emission vessels on selected routes. The London case is Thames Clippers’ main River Bus Route 1 between North Greenwich and Westminster.

“This is a multi-stop route operating 18 hours a day with an end to journey time of 60 minutes, so it represents a real test in terms of operational range and layover down time between runs. If the TrAM demonstrator can be used in such an operating environment it will provide comfort that the current technology is transferrable and indeed a viable option for our operating environment”, Symonds explains. 

Eco-friendly operations will be the norm

Today cities around the world have an ever-increasing demand for public communication. In these areas, environmentally sustainable solutions are encouraged to reduce the local pollution. Consumers are also increasingly understanding the impact of pollution on human health and the environment. Accordingly, they are demanding more transparency in everyday products and services.

“The drive for sustainability is rewriting the rules for all industries. We believe green operations will be the norm in 10 years times and it will be a customer expectation rather than just a competitive advantage”, Symonds says.

The TrAM project is just one of the initiatives the company currently has ongoing. Thames Clippers has also released their plans to introduce a fully electric pedestrian and cycle ferry cross river between Canary Wharf and Rotherhithe. The London Mayor’s ambition is to achieve this by 2023.  On the high-speed routes the company plans to reduce emissions in a staged way to ensure service reliability is maintained.

This staged development  has commenced with exploring retrofitting options on the current fleet and for the next vessel new build the company aim it to be at least a diesel electric solution. The medium-term aim is to continue to minimise emissions via hybrid options and Thames Clippers see diesel electric as being a steppingstone towards potentially a hydrogen fuel option in the long term.  

Through the TrAM project Thames Clippers will get the knowledge needed to make this transition in terms of operational and technical intelligence to aid the development and design of future high speed and cross river vessels. 

“As a business we want to do our bit and indeed a fully diesel operation will not be fully sustainable in the long term. Land transport is moving away from diesel options so marine should follow as soon as it is practical and viable to do so”, Symonds says. 

The TrAM H2020  has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 769303.

On June 23rd 2020 The TrAM H2020 project hosted a public webinar where maritime industry actors shared knowledge and experiences from European innovation projects related to electric vessels.

In the webinar DNV GL also gave an introduction to the new rules for the use of batteries in maritime applications taking effect from July 1st this summer.

NCE Maritime CleanTech´s Director of Public Affairs, Marie Launes, hosted the webinar. Here are the presentations:

• Developing Norway’s first electric fast ferry – Mikal Dahle, TrAM project coordinator/Kolumbus
• Evaluating the “E-ferry” systems and safety measures – Halfdan Abrahamsen, Media and Information Manager, E-ferry/Ærø EnergyLab
• Retrofitting the King– battery ferries operating the Oslofjord – Frode Skaar, director business development Westcon P&A
• Developing Next-Generation Li-ion Batteries for Electric Vessels – Simon Clark, HYDRA project coordinator/Sintef
• Ensuring efficiency and safety in electric vessels, updated regulations – Sverre Eriksen, Senior Principal Engineer DNV GL

Watch the full webinar here:

The TrAM H2020 project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 769303.

In the Horizon2020 TrAM project 14 project partners work together to develop a zero-emission fast going passenger vessel through advanced modular production. “Trying to change the industry’s perception of modular and more standardized vessels has been the biggest challenge,” say modular experts Tobias Seidenberg and Christoph Jürgenhake of the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechatronic Systems Design IEM.

In addition to developing and building a zero-emission demonstrator fast ferry, the TrAM project aims to develop never-before seen modular design and production methods for such vessels. The project is revolutionary both in terms of zero emission technology and manufacturing methods, and will contribute to making electric-powered high-speed vessels competitive in terms of both cost and the environment. The project, was awarded 12M Euros back in 2018 from the EU’s Horizon 2020 research program.

From cars to ships

“Today ships are most often designed as a one-off, even though many of them are built according to almost exactly the same specifications. We are examining the opportunities for creating modules that can be reused across application cases. By combining advanced modular production principles with ship design and construction methods, the TrAM project will develop a more efficient modular system integration than the currently favoured function orientated modularity systems,” says M.Eng. Tobias Seidenberg of project partner Fraunhofer IEM.

The German institute has worked on modular architectures for cars for major customers such as the Volkswagen Group, and leads TrAM’s work on adapting modularity models from the automotive and aviation industry to the needs of the maritime industry. The proposed modular concept will be validated and refined through one physical demonstrator and two replicators. The demonstrator will be a zero-emissions passenger ferry that will service a multi-stop commuter route into the Norwegian city of Stavanger from January 2022. The replicators will be developed for the rivers and channels in London and Belgium.

Beyond Lego

“In essence, the project is about how to build the same ship for different purposes – creating one ship family for three different routes. Our goal is to develop a modularisation methodology that allows all three vessels to have the same systems and interfaces inside the hull and the same rough structures – maybe with a partly different hull shape for each vessel,” elaborates Dr. Ing. Christoph Jürgenhake at Fraunhofer IEM. He brings several years’ experience with modularisation from Airbus to the TrAM project.

Modularisation is often explained as using the “Lego principle” in design and construction. But Fraunhofer’s function first approach is noteably different from that of the traditional mechanical designer.

“While a mechanical designer normally has a geometrical point of view and starts with the shape, we start with a functional point of view – asking where we can imbed which functions. Then we try to identify which functions belong together, before deriving some sort of shape from that,” Jürgenhake explains.

It’s what’s inside that counts

Initially, the two colleagues were concerned that the project would only lead to very abstract modularisation models, like general design and production guidelines. But during the first year and a half of their research, ideas for specific TrAM modules have emerged.

“Together with colleagues from the Strathclyde University in Scotland we are thinking about modularising different sections of the hull,  allowing the hull to be more easily adapted to each use case. But the essence of the TrAM modularisation effort is to have the complete inside and the interfaces of the vessel in easily adaptable modules,” Jürgenhake says.

One proposal includes a modular bridge arrangement. “It became obvious to us that there’s no reason to build a different bridge for each of the three TrAM vessels. We are currently thinking of a bridge module that can be equipped completely by the supplier and adapted to each use case. This is a huge benefit for the shipbuilder, allowing plug and play during construction of the next vessels in the family.”

Modular power supply

They also have ideas for a modular power module in which all the batteries and power electronics are stored on the upper level of the vessel instead of inside the hull.

“This is an advantage for the future. We know that battery technology will develop rapidly in the coming years, and to have the power module as an easily accessible unit on top of the vessel will benefit future retrofitting, allowing easier battery replacement or integration of new power sources like fuel cells,” Seidenberg says.

Interior modules like cafeterias are also being looked into. “For example, in London, buying snacks and beverages on board constitutes a substantial part of the customer experience. We would like to see a modularised cafeteria on the TrAM vessels. If there is enough space, this can be a manned cafeteria, but the module could also consist of self-service vending machines. Regardless of size, the key is to have all the interfaces for cafeteria services planned into your hull, including freshwater supply, energy supply, and more.” This feature will also afford future owners increased flexibility to modify the cafeteria area, Seidenberg explains.

Establishing a new mindset

Jürgenhake and Seidenberg are clear on the biggest challenge in the project so far. “In general, the main challenge has been to convince the transportation and maritime industries that modularisation is a good approach in ship design, to open their eyes to a new mindset,” says Jürgenhake.

Both he and Seidenberg believe modularisation can and should change the way ships are ordered. “There is a dominant belief that complete optimisation is the only way to design a ship. This is a result of today’s extremely specified tender processes, which lead to one-off ships due to all the requirements vessel owners include in their tenders.” He cites a common example: “Why specify a rigorous top speed if a vessel only uses that speed 10-15 percent of the time, and still keeps to its timetable?” Jürgenhake asks.

“The maritime industry also has a strong focus on initial price,” Seidenberg adds. “We believe the industry needs to look more at lifetime costs, like the aviation industry does. We are now in the process of validating estimates showing that the lifetime cost of a cheaper, more standardised modular vessel actually can be lower than an individually designed ship operating on the same route. If our numbers are correct, I believe this will be an eye-opener,” he says.

Completing the last leg

As the demonstrator vessel moves into the detailed design phase, Fraunhofer IEM’s task is to document all their findings. They expect to finish up in September or October. “Our scope of delivery to the project will be the methods used to modularise the vessel, accompanied by examples and suggestions. We would also like to include some sort of configurator tool, visualising the methodology for the shipbuilder through examples from the three TrAM use cases and showing what you can achieve by modularisation,” Seidenberg concludes.

Construction of the demonstrator vessel will commence in early 2021. The fully electric fast ferry is scheduled to enter commercial operation for Kolumbus in Stavanger on January 1st, 2022.

Under the EU H2020-founded TrAM project (2018-2022), a prototype of a fully electric passenger fast ferry has been developed. The Vessel undergoes detailed design and physical model testing, prior to its construction. The catamaran will start operation in Stavanger, Norway in 2022 and be part of the city´s zero emissions urban transportation system.

Within the TrAM project Hamburg Ship Model Basin HSVA is in charge of the hydrodynamic optimisation and model testing of the Stavanger demonstrator vessel. The company’s test facilities in Hamburg are among the largest in Europe with a 300 meters long and 18 meters wide tank.

In the frame of the initial design phase, a first hull form has been developed and tested in December 2019 in the large towing tank. Due to some changes in the battery arrangement, a modified hull form has been developed and tested at HSVA in May 2020. Compared to the hull form tested in December 2019, the new hull form showed improved hydrodynamic performance and reduced power requirements of over 6% at the design speed of 23 knots, while savings are higher than 10% at the speed range of 15-17 knots.

“The completion of the model testing is an important milestone in the TrAM project. The test also proves the success of our work within hydrodynamic optimisation”, says Dr.-Ing. Yan Xing-Kaeding, CFD Research Engineer and project manager for HSVA’s work within the TrAM project.

A new newsletter for the TrAM project is now published. Here you can read about recent developments and activities in the project. You can sign up for regular updates through the home page.

Read the newsletter here.

Creating solutions for low-cost environmentally friendly transport is a challenge that is reflected in public policy on national, European and a global level. The Horizon2020 project TrAM was established to solve this challenge.

In addition to developing and building a zero-emission demonstrator fast ferry, the project aims to develop never-before seen modular design and production methods for such vessels. The project is thus also a perfect fit with the European Commission’s economic policies where lower cost through working smart is seen as key for the European shipyards to remain competitive.

– Today ships are most often designed as a one-off. We will look at opportunities for creating modules that can be reused across application cases. By combining advanced modular production principles with ship design and construction methods, the TrAM project will allow deeper modular system integration than the currently much used one-dimensional modularity systems, says M.Eng. Tobias Seidenberg of project partner Fraunhofer IEM.

Through the project the proposed modular concept will be validated and refined through one physical demonstrator and two replicators. The demonstrator will be a zero-emissions passenger ferry that will service a multi-stop commuter route into the city of Stavanger in Rogaland County. The replicators will be delivered for the rivers and channels in London and Belgium.

– The project will make it possible for ship designers and yards to reuse a broad set of designs and ship system components, while customising the vessel as necessary for the use case. This allows for cost-efficient design and production of one-off designs, of small series, as well as larger series of vessels. We believe these methods will contribute to 25 per cent lower production costs and 70 per cent lower engineering costs, says Sales/R&D Director Edmund Tolo of Fjellstrand yard that will build the demonstrator vessel.

Identifying the opportunities

Modular production core industry and R&D competence in the TrAM project will be delivered by Fraunhofer IEM, University of Strathclyde and module supplier Leirvik.

Last week project partners were gathered at Fjellstrand yard.

Fraunhofer IEM has worked on modular architectures of cars for major customers such as the Volkswagen Group, and will lead the work on adapting modularity models from the automotive and aviation industry to the needs of the maritime industry. In October they joined Fjellstrand yard, Leirvik, University of Strathclyde, vessel owner and operator Kolumbus and NCE Maritime CleanTech for a workshop at Fjellstrand’s shipyard in Omastrand, Norway.

– An important target for this workshop is to get a common understanding of what a module is, both on macro and micro level, and what the different modules actually contains. The bridge is an example of what can be defined as a module, and we are looking into opportunities for creating a bridge that potentially can be used for all fast ferries in Norway, as well as in London, Seidenberg says.

Another topic up for discussion was opportunities for hull modularization.

When working on modularisation of ships the hull is one of the more apparent challenges. It is not as easy as just multiplying the hull for longer vessels. To achieve the best possible hydrodynamics the hull must be optimised for each vessel. However, while the shape of the aft may vary according to vessel and operating mode, we see opportunities for modularisation in the mid sections of the hull, says Research Assistant / PhD Researcher Alexandros Priftis of University of Strathclyde.

Fjellstrand yard will build the demonstrator vessel.

Construction of the demonstrator vessel will start in summer 2020. The fully electric fast ferry will enter into commercial operation for Kolumbus in Stavanger on January 1st, 2022.

New design renders now give the public a clearer view of how the demonstrator vessel in the TrAM project will look like. The vessel will be the world’s first fully electric zero-emission fast ferry of its kind, and it will operate the route between Stavanger and Hommersåk. It will be operated by public transport company Kolumbus and accommodate 150 passengers and 20 bicycles.

– The design, developed by Norwegian yard Fjellstrand, is developed based on the project’s target to develop and validate a concept for modular design and production of vessels.- The design process has been exiting, but also challenging. We have had to incorporate many new elements and needed to create a more efficient way of constructing the hulls to shape them for battery solutions rather than a traditional engine, Edmund Tolo, Sales Director in Fjellstrand says.

The construction of the vessel is planned to start in summer 2020, and the vessel will be in commercial operation on January 1, 2022.

The project will also conduct two studies for the same type of vessel in London and Belgium to explore opportunities for similar zero emission vessels on selected routes in Europe.

Fjellstrand shipyard wants to put aside the rule book on shipbuilding and look at the whole process in a new way.

Anyone involved in ship design and shipbuilding knows that every vessel is almost seen as a one-of-a-kind design and certainly as a one-of-a-kind build. It is how the industry has evolved: Ships are built to a shipowner’s or operator’s requirements, which are often based on fixed  parameters such as speed, fuel consumption, and cargo or passenger capacity.

With these limitations in mind, blueprints are created, more detailed plans are approved by a classification society, financing secured and building started, block by unique block.

Fjellstrand is part of the European Union-funded Transport: Advanced and Modular (TrAM) Project, which is coordinated by Rogaland County Council through its transport company Kolumbus. was initiated by industry cluster NCE Maritime CleanTech. The €11.7m project initiated by industry cluster NCE Maritime CleanTech aims to build what would become the fastest battery-powered, zero emission, high-speed aluminium ferry. Not only does it seek to build on a growing level of zero-emission competence in Europe, but to do so by re-evaluating the actual design and build process.

So, what if shipbuilding could emulate some of the advances seen in airline construction or car manufacturing? What if the modular approach,  where  core components or central frames that are constant across a range of models while other variable components or systems can be selected depending on changing demands?

As well as building a high-speed clean ferry, the TrAM Project is about building a process template that can then be copied for other vessels. The project will develop three distinct uses for a zero-emission aluminium ferry: one for European inland waterways another for a London city Thames commuter ferry and the first vessel, to be built to serve a community near Stavanger from 2022.

All three have different speed, depth, passenger capacity and range and noise requirements, but all three have identical design features.  A shipyard might elect to go through the same traditional design process for all three  ferries, but what if the only things that were changed in the design systems arrangements of the vessels, were those that needed to be changed?

Nearly all modern vessels are designed with their operation in mind says Dr. Christoph Jürgenhake, group manager at German Fraunhofer Institute for Mechatronic System Design IEM, one of the TRaM consortium members.

Fraunhofer IEM is an application-oriented research organization. Its focus is on how objects and systems. including manufacturing processes, work and can work better. Its staff are experts in this kind of thinking, having worked in aviation and car production efficiency previously. They can look at the top-level requirements of a vessel, or car, and then how different building process parameters can be impacted. In TrAM Fraunhofer IEM is taking the lead in assessing how engineering planning and construction methodologies can be improved to reduce costs and time.

This is the crux of this part of the project: To determine how to create a modular approach to shipbuilding that create significant savings by enabling engineering and production to be replicable and modular.

Dr. Jürgenhake explains that project’s objective is to find the key part of the design that is common to all these three possible designs and then build modules up for there. By borrowing this approach from car and airline makers, the aim is to have set of designs that can still be tailored for operational needs. For example, he notes that VW uses a central module in the chassis around which many different models can be built. “It is a new way of thinking for shipowners and operators,” he says. “They need to look at the total lifecycle cost when looking at the system design options.”

While the TrAM Project has yet to find an ideal design, initial sketches suggest a twin hull, catamaran.

For Fjellstrand shipyard, this modular approach could help them in a challenging shipbuilding market where reducing costs remains a priority.

“Of course, there is the reduction of labour cost if any of the processes might be automated but this modular approach to design might also lead to more efficient use of materials,” says Fjellstrand’s head of research and development, Edmund Tolo. “We see that several car types are built on the same platform and see that there is a benefit in the cost within that industry. We have no reason to believe that this should not be the case also within the maritime industry.”

If so, then other partners in the project, such as aluminium firm Hydro Extrusions, or Leirvik, a company focusing on superstructures, could create a standard module that could be used on different vessel designs, such as a deep-water high-speed ferry, or a shallow draft, slow speed, rapid turnaround vessel with larger passenger capacity.

The project partners recognise that by revaluating the process of designing and building a vessel engineering cot can be cut by up to 70%, and production costs by 20%.

The key parts of this EU Horizon 2020 Research Programme-funded project is to bring together partners that can take a new and revolutionary look at vessel design and construction processes, test it out on a first vessel and then look at how the modules are used to create the two other designs for the Thames and Europe’s inland waters.

In the TrAM project ship operators in Norway, UK and Belgium come together to solve a common goal; to create lower priced environmentally friendly ships.

This challenge to create solutions for low-cost environmentally friendly transport is reflected in public policy on national, European and global level. The European Commission’s 2050 Low Carbon Economy policy states that greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced to 80% below 1990 levels, through making low-carbon transition feasible and affordable.

This goal is a key starting point for the TrAM project, that bring together the complete value chain in both inshore and inland waterways transport and adds modularity competence from both the R&D sector and the industry. The project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.

– Two important goals in this project is to lower the cost of design and construction of electric vessel through modular production methods and making sure that system components and designs can be reused across vessel types. Putting together a diverse set of experiences and capabilities at a European level will ensure that we succeed, says TrAM Project Manager, Geir Hagen in Rogaland County Council’s ferry operator subsidiary Kolumbus.

Kolumbus has a strategy to move to zero emission for all its ferry routes and will co-finance the demonstrator in the TrAM-project. This will be a fully electric fast going passenger vessel that will operate the Stavanger-Hommersåk route from 2022.

Utilizing the similarities

The aim of zero emission transport is shared by the two other operators in the project; Thames Clippers and de Vlamsee Waterveg. Thames Clippers is facing both competition from other transportation modes and increasing pressure to move to more environmentally friendly alternatives than diesel engines for its operations into the city of London. De Vlamsee Waterveg is a major regulator of Belgium’s inland waterways and see modular zero-emission transport as the solution to regain competitiveness on economic and environmental levels.

In December the operators and research partners met in London to discuss similarities and requirements for the three routes and vessels.

– The objective of the meeting was to establish a set of bottom-up analysis-based requirements for modular ship design. We are analysing both the ship itself and the infrastructure and environment in all three regions. Based on this analysis we will develop a concept approach for cost efficient modularisation and standardization of vessels, says Doctor of Engineering Christoph Juergenhake from Fraunhofer IEM.

In London the participant were able to investigate Thames Clipper’s operations in real life.

If we compare river Thames and the Stavanger route there are off course many differences, for example when it comes to required capacity, water draft, speed requirements and even national class regulation. But we also defined the similarities that we will take with us into the design process, says R&D/Sales Manager Edmund Tolo from yard Fjellstrand.

The TrAM project started in September 2018 and will be completed in 2022.

About the TrAM project
The TrAM-project (Transport: Advanced and Modular) is developing modular production methods for a more cost-effective construction of zero emissions vessels. The collaborating partners will use the advantages of scale and standardisation with customisation options, focusing on inshore vessels (operating coastal areas and inland waterways) with electric power systems. At least one demonstrator vessel will be physically built to operate a multi-stop commuter route into Stavanger, Norway. The demonstrator will be a fully electric fast passenger ferry with zero emission to air and sea. The project will also conduct two studies for the same type of vessel in River Thames, London and on the canals in Belgium to explore opportunities for similar zero emission vessels. This will pave the way for lower priced, environmentally friendly ships also in other routes in Europe.

TrAM H2020 project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 769303.