📰 IN NEWS — World’s First Hybrid Solar-Powered Inland Shipping Vessel
🚢 Key Facts
- Vessel Name: Blue Marlin
- Launched by:
- Wattlab (Dutch solar innovator)
- HGK Shipping (German inland shipping company)
- Type: Hybrid solar-powered inland cargo vessel
- Location/Use: European inland waterways
⚡ Solar Propulsion Technology
- Solar Setup:
- 192 solar panels installed on vessel
- Can generate up to 35 kW under optimal conditions
- Purpose:
- Powers both hotel load (onboard systems) and the electric propulsion drive
- First inland ship globally to achieve solar-based propulsion capability
- Hybrid Feature:
- Works alongside four diesel generators
- Uses peak-shaving — reduces reliance on extra generators during energy demand spikes
- Includes automated energy management platform for smart power distribution
🌍 Environmental Impact
- Enables reduced fuel consumption and lower greenhouse gas emissions
- Capable of limited all-solar sailing when lightly loaded and travelling downstream
- Represents a global milestone in sustainable inland water transport
⚓ Related Precedent
- MS Helios(2024):
- Another vessel by Wattlab + HGK
- Has 312 solar panels (largest solar array on an inland ship)
- But powers only low-voltage onboard systems, not propulsion
Updated - 8 July 2025 ; 8:23 PM | https://splash247.com/