Whilst diesel and gasoline-powered vessels currently dominate maritime transportation, the market for pure electric and hybrid boats and ships is growing rapidly. The industry is facing an inflection point as vessel operators are driven by a plethora of restrictions surrounding emissions of NOx and SOx, as well as greenhouse gases such as CO2. They are also beginning to understand the value proposition of installing a system powered solely or in part by a battery, which leads to a game-changing reduction in fuel costs against a backdrop of rising oil prices.

 

Whereas carbon emission regulations are concerned with global warming, the concern with emissions of NOx, SOx and particulates is for local pollution and human health. Amsterdam is one city to have a policy that requires every commercial ship to be zero-emissions on its canals by 2020 or 2025, depending on its size. California has at-berth restrictions for emissions from trading vessels in the ports of Los Angles, Long Beach, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco and Hueneme.

 

By volume, recreational boating represents the largest and fastest transformation. The trend for inland water vessels, and other small pleasure and leisure vessels, is that they can jump straight to pure electric versions due to the short ranges required, and potential for opportunity charging. There is also a trend towards pure electric ferries, which have very well-defined routes and predictable operation making it easy to size the battery and plan when to charge (e.g. during loading / offloading). As a result, Ferries have become a testbed for a variety of energy storage technologies, including supercapacitors and fuel cells as well as batteries.

 

Another area of rapid growth is Offshore Support Vessels (OSVs). According to Corvus Energy, a leading maritime battery provider, there has been a surge in demand for hybrid OSVs as batteries have been used to replace one of four diesel engines: by replacing engines, fuel savings are made by between 15 - 30 percent. In the future it is likely that all new builds of OSVs will be hybrids.

 

The new report on 'Electric and Hybrid Boats and Ships' provides forecasts up to 2029 broken down by vessel type (Ferry, Offshore Support Vessel, Tugboat, Fishing, Cruise, Trading) and industry segment (Recreational, Commercial, Industrial). It presents our analysis, highlights trends and gives our opinion on what's driving the transition with details based on primary research from interviews, company visits to players around the globe, and our network of contacts.

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