German shipyard Ostseestaal KG has been commissioned by shipping company Bodensee-Schiffsbetriebe (BSB), based in Constance (Baden-Württemberg), Germany, to build an electric solar passenger ship. BSB has also secured an option for a second ship until the end of 2022. The fully electric catamaran, measuring 30m long by 8m wide, is currently in the construction phase and is scheduled to go into service in July 2022.
“With this passenger ship for use on Lake Constance, we are entering new dimensions in the field of electric solar ships. The capacity of 300 passengers exceeds all electric ferries and passenger ships designed and implemented by Ostseestaal,” noted Thomas Kühmstedt, technical director of Ostseestaal.
According to Ingo Schillinger, who managed the build at Ostseestaal, the company is breaking new ground with the project, not least through the use of a parametrically modeled aluminum hull, optimized using CFD. The propulsion system also features a newly developed control and power use optimization software package, and the energy storage system incorporates bifacial solar panels.