Electric cargo ship tests self-steering on China's Grand Canal
CATL supplied its batteries, motors and controls. A trade weekly says it delivered five ships to a Jining company and signed for 50 more.
A cargo ship that runs only on batteries has made its first voyage on the Jining stretch of China's Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, in Shandong province, and passed tests of remote monitoring, remote control and sailing itself in designated waters, according to the electric-ship unit of CATL, the Chinese battery maker, as relayed by Battery Network (电池网).
On the vessel designated 6021 (济宁港航6021), CATL supplied the ship's batteries, motors and control system. Two battery banks of about 1,960 kilowatt-hours each drive propulsion rated at 2 x 150 kilowatts. The 67.6-meter ship can carry 1,960 tonnes, or 62 standard 20-foot containers, and is designed to travel at 12 km/h.
At a ceremony in Jining reported in early January, CATL delivered five electric cargo ships to Jining Energy Development Group (济宁能源发展集团) and signed for 50 more, all meant for the canal, China Shipping Weekly (中国航务周刊) reported. Battery Network calls the 6021 part of CATL's large-scale delivery of electric cargo ships in Jining. An upgraded ship type supports containerized battery swaps that take 15 minutes, the weekly said.
The automation doesn't remove the crew. On an earlier design (vessel 6006) intelligent systems cut a container ship's standard crew from five to three, the weekly reported.
Sources: 电池网 Battery Network, 中国航务周刊 China Shipping Weekly
Editor: Ian Lamont
