MPA shortlists 11 proposals for design of fully electric harbor craft

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has shortlisted a total of 11 passenger launch and cargo lighter vessel designs submitted by seven companies and consortia for the full electric harbor craft (e-HC) program.

The expression of interest (EOI) launched by the MPA on July 10, 2023, for e-HC program in Singapore received 55 proposals from 32 international and local companies and consortia.

The panel has completed the evaluation of all the proposals and MPA has shortlisted a total of 11 vessel designs submitted by seven companies and consortia.

Together with various research institutes (RI) such as the Institute of High-Performance Computing, Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore, the Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine, Tropical Marine Science Institute and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHL) such as the Nanyang Technological University, National University of Singapore, Singapore Institute of Technology, and Singapore University of Technology and Design, MPA will support an enhancement program for researchers in the maritime domain. The aim is to enhance vessel designs, safety and cybersecurity, and reduce energy requirements. This is expected to reduce the overall costs for these designs when scaled up and support continuous improvements.

When the designs and prototypes are ready, the participants will progressively market these enhanced e-HC reference designs to interested parties and aggregate production demand from the industry. The use of ready reference designs and production at scale is expected to help reap cost savings for companies planning to make the transition to e-HCs. 

According to MPA, participants had submitted technically strong e-HC designs, including the use of optimized aluminium hull form, high energy density batteries with active liquid cooling, and battery thermal detection and protection system, among others.

They also stated in their proposals that the total cost of ownership for e-HC can be comparable to a conventional harbor craft.  While e-HC currently has higher upfront capital costs due primarily to the higher cost of the batteries and associated systems, these can be mitigated by energy cost savings from operating the more energy-efficient e-HC, reduced maintenance cost and operational downtime, MPA noted.

Several participants have also proposed business models to optimize the harbor craft resource at the sector level while lowering the overall total cost of ownership to individual companies. 

Of the 11 e-HC designs, six have secured the relevant technical approvals from classification societies such as American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Bureau Veritas (BV), China Classification Society (CCS), DNV and RINA, and will be seeking to aggregate industry demand for their designs. The six designs were submitted by the Coastal Sustainability Alliance, marinEV, and Pyxis Maritime.

Furthermore, the remaining five proposals were submitted by CAEV⁺ Consortium, China Everbright Environment Group, Cyan Renewables Consortium, and Gennal Engineering.

MPA will work with these participants, together with the various IHLs and RIs, to further develop their e-HC designs. The scope of enhancements will include optimization of the vessel hull and electrical systems design, the design of a fire-resilient battery room, and a cyber health monitoring system, to strengthen the vessels’ energy efficiency and safety.

To remind, MPA recently selected the Pyxis Energy, Pyxis Maritime and SP Mobility partnership, Seatrium, and Yinson Electric to test their charging concepts for electric harbor craft (e-HC).