SWITCH Maritime plans to build first liquid hydrogen-fueled ferry in the US

The U.S. shipowner SWITCH Maritime, in collaboration with LH2 Shipping and LMG Marin, has revealed plans to commence the U.S. construction of the existing liquid hydrogen-fueled RoPax vehicle ferry MF Hydra operating in Norway.

Following the launch of Sea Change, the first hydrogen-powered ferry in the U.S., SWITCH said it was ready to advance its next zero-emission vessel project that involves the U.S. construction of the existing DNVGL-classed 80-car, 300-passenger RoPax vehicle ferry design operating on liquid hydrogen fuel in Norway, MF Hydra.

MF Hydra is owned by Norled and performs a triangular six-nautical mile round-trip vehicle ferry service which started in March 2023.

SWITCH’s first hydrogen-powered vessel, the Sea Change, is a 75-passenger catamaran ferry featuring 600 kW of electric motor propulsion, powered by 360 kW of fuel cells with 246 kilograms of gaseous hydrogen storage at 250 bar pressure.

The vessel started public passenger service as part of the San Francisco Bay Ferry system in July 2024, after receiving its final Certificate of Inspection (COI) from the U.S. Coast Guard in May 2024.

It is currently fueled once a week using a mobile compressed gaseous hydrogen storage trailer towed behind a pickup truck, with each fueling taking approximately two hours to transfer 150 kilograms, allowing for three consecutive days of passenger operation. When service increases to seven days per week in the coming months, the ferry will be fueled twice per week.

SWITCH explained that while compressed gaseous hydrogen is well suited for small- to medium-sized vessels, cryogenic liquid hydrogen becomes the preferred storage solution as vessel size and energy demand increase.

In addition to Sea Change, the company is working on a 150-passenger, 25-knot catamaran to build for the SF Bay Ferry service, using the same gaseous hydrogen storage and fuel cell equipment as the first vessel (to be revealed in the first quarter of 2025). However, when designing larger zero-emissions harborcraft such as 300+ passenger ferries, vehicle ferries, and harbor tugs, SWITCH plans to transition from gaseous storage to cryogenic liquid hydrogen.

“Our first H₂ vessel was the result of years of close collaboration with the US Coast Guard, demonstrating the viability and safety of hydrogen fueling. While the LH₂ RoPax ferry design is already DNVGL-classed, there is still some work to do to bring it into US Coast Guard compliance,” said Pace Ralli, Founder & CEO of SWITCH.

“What I like about LH₂ fueling is that it will follow the same IGF Code that applies to cryogenic LNG fueling of ships in the US, so we have a precedent regulatory framework to work from.”

According to SWITCH, the larger steel hull of the vehicle ferry offers more flexibility in terms of space and weight compared to aluminum catamaran fast ferry designs, making it an ideal platform for introducing liquid hydrogen fueling in the US.

The liquid hydrogen from the cryogenic storage tanks is vaporized onboard and used in the PEM fuel cells to create electricity for the electric motors.

The RoPax vehicle ferry will have a service speed of 14 knots, and is expected to require fueling only once per week (volume of 3,000 kilograms from one liquid hydrogen truck) in a typical operation, with no requirement for shoreside electric charging infrastructure.