Hamburg port to receive its first all-electric workboats

Shipping startup Flotte Hamburg has contracted Derben-based Hermann Barthel shipyard to build two fully electric workboats for the German port of Hamburg.

PHOTO: Steamboat on Alster Lake in Hamburg. Getty Images

The 16-meter-long workboats will cost €8 million ($8.6 million). The two boats will be equipped with a completely electric drive system. Each workboat will be equipped with two 105-kilowatt (KW) batteries, requiring less frequent charging.

Electric-powered vessels, while currently ideal for shorter voyages, offer vital insights for future larger-scale electric vessel development. Although their immediate impact on global shipping emissions may be modest, these vessels can help reduce emissions and noise pollution in ports and coastal areas.

The boats will be used as transport and inspection vessels in the inner and outer areas of the Alster River. They will also operate throughout the Port of Hamburg. 

By Manjula Nair

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