Ship design incorporates renewable energy solutions, electric propulsion & fuel cells.

As part of an ongoing zero emission ship design project Eco Marine Power has released details of a new Handymax bulker that incorporates a range of renewable energy solutions, energy saving devices, electric propulsion and fuel cells. This ship design concept is known as the Aquarius Eco Handymax II and all the technologies currently encompassed in the design are either currently available or under-development.

The Aquarius Eco Handymax II ship design includes the integrated sail-assisted propulsion & solar power system known as Aquarius Marine Renewable Energy or Aquarius MRE^®. A range of energy saving devices including an air lubrication system (ALS) have also been added along with electric propulsion & fuel cells. Aquarius MRE^® was granted Approval-In-Principle by ClassNK in 2021 & a further patent related to this system was applied for recently.

Some of the technologies incorporated into the Aquarius Eco Handymax II design will be installed for evaluation purposes on an actual Handymax bulker this year & as the project continues further technologies will be deployed. The performance of the energy saving devices installed on this vessel will be evaluated in cooperation with the ship owner & strategic partners.

“The Aquarius Eco Handymax is the result of years of research & development including shore-based & ship-based trials. The design focus is not on any one solution or technology however, but rather how various alternative power sources and energy saving devices can work together to achieve the zero emissions operation of a large ship.” – commented Greg Atkinson, President & Chief Technology Officer at Eco Marine Power.

Several companies are cooperating on R&D activities related to the Aquarius Eco Handymax II within the framework of the Eco Marine Power Research Institute with additional companies expected to join this year.