Rotterdam-headquartered Samskip Group has placed an order at India’s Cochin Shipyard (CSL) for two hydrogen fuel cell powered short sea containerships for operation on west European routes.
As we reported at the time, back in June last year the Samskip-led SeaShuttle project secured NOK150 million (just over $15 million) in funding from Norwegian state enterprise ENOVA to build two 500 TEU hydrogen-powered, remotely controlled and autonomous-ready containerships for delivery by 2025.
Today’s announcement from the company made no mention of the “remotely controlled and autonomous ready” bit.
Samskip says that, once commissioned, the two just-ordered vessels will be among the first zero emission short sea container vessels in the world using green hydrogen as their fuel. This is another of Samskip’s ambitious projects as it works together with the Norwegian Government green funding program aimed at emission-free transport solutions by adopting sustainable innovative future technologies.
In zero emission mode, each vessel is expected to achieve around 25,000 tons of CO2 reduction per year. They will achieve zero emission operations when in ports by using green shore power.
“This endeavor is another of Samskip’s initiatives that is an important step towards reaching our sustainability targets outlined in our latest sustainability report,” said Samskip Group CEO Kari-Pekka Laaksonen. It reinforces our commitment to the sustainability science based target initiative and will support our goal of reaching net-zero by 2040. We have continuously practiced what we preached because sustainability is in our DNA and we are invested in the future; the future for green logistics, our planet, our economy and in the next generation of seafarers and we are certain that this project will be a game changer. Samskip is delighted to have found such a partnership in Cochin Shipyard who shares the same ambitions to provide environmentally friendly transportation and we look forward to a successful cooperation.”
“With this collaboration, CSL has further strengthened its position among the global league of early movers in sustainable green future technology thereby ready to meet the futuristic market expectations,” said the chairman of Cochin Shipyard Madhu Nair.
This not Cochin Shipyard’s first involvement in building advanced vessels built with the help of Norwegian green funding. Last year it delivered the two battery-electric sea drone autonomous freight ferries ordered by ASKO Maritime for operation on the Oslo Fjord.
