China plans to boost the production of Electric ships after a prosperous voyage of a battery-powered cruise ship.
The China Classification Society (CCS) said that China is planning to ramp up the production of fully electric battery-powered ships that will operate on the country’s extensive inland waterways network. It follows after the successful maiden voyage of the Chang Jiang San Xia 1, a 100-meter length cruise ship entirely battery operated.
The Chang Jiang San Xia 1 was delivered at the Yichang Xin Hui Shipbuilding on the Yangtze River in the Hubei province. It has a capacity of 1,300 passengers and will sail the reservoir areas of the Gezhouba Dam and Three Gorges Dam in the Yangtze River.
Director of Wuhan Rules & Research Institute, Luo Xiaofeng, said that the ship could reduce an estimated 530 tonnes of diesel and 1,660 tonnes of greenhouse gases and hazardous gas emissions every year.
The ship will be powered by hydroelectric energy and equipped with a 7.5 marine power lithium battery system. It will also have a range of no less than 100 kilometers.
Xu Junjie, GM to CCS Yichang, commented: “The project demonstrates the implementation of advanced Lithium Battery Power Ship Rules and the building of electric inland waterway vessels in China. We expect that the innovations made on this vessel about the size and power of the battery can promote the development of environmentally-friendly electric vessels,”
The vessel will promote the green development of the Yangtze River shipping industry, which received increasing attention in the previous years.
Last 2020, four ministries, including the Ministry of Transport, and Ecology and Environment, issued a joint plan to curb ship and port pollution. These ministries urged comprehensive improvements in pollution prevention and speed up the shipping industry’s ‘green development’ along the Yangtze River Economic belt.
Luo also noted that the Chang Jiang San Xia 1 has obtained the notations of “Green Ship” and meets the high vibration and noise reduction standards.
Additionally, Lou said that the successful delivery of the ship is a breakthrough in environmental protection and will potentially lead to the development of electric vessels in China.
