Electric river cargo vessel

The Turkish shipyard TRX Marine is specialized in sophisticated and special purpose ships and builds different types of vessels: fishing vessels, offshore units, and ferry/passenger vessels. Recently, it has been commissioned by the French shipping company and service provider Ecofluv with the construction of an innovative river cargo vessel, which can operate in completely electric mode and is equipped with modern features for a wide range of operations.

The ship’s design was developed by the French company Arco Marine and TRX Marine in collaboration with Ecofluv and it is said to be the first hybrid of its kind. It is powered by batteries, with a compact and intelligent electric propulsion system supplied by Italy-based Transfluid, that provides the power needed for vessel propulsion and cargo handling operations. The stored energy is also used to power the on-board services and other auxiliary systems.

In addition to the main battery system for the thrusters, there are solar panels for recharging. Thanks to this, the ship can run only on electricity supplied by batteries, with no power from the diesel generators.

The lithium batteries can also be charged from a shore power connection. Transfluid’s fully integrated turnkey solution uses a power management system that communicates with all components via a CAN Bus protocol.

The Transfluid electric propulsion system includes two electric azimuth thrusters with power output of 75 kW at 1500 r/min each; double hydraulic power unit for the wheelhouse; two independent battery banks of 163 kWh each; two independent 44-kW DC/AC converters; bow thruster and six battery chargers both for recharging on the quay and during navigation.

All of this will be combined with two 45-kW diesel generators which can be used as emergency back-up during navigation or to recharge the batteries if shore power is not available.

The system is provided with all the signal cables and the main power cables and is completed by the displays, the throttles for controlling the azimuth thrusters and engines, the ignition keys and all the necessary electrical boxes.

Batteries, electric motors and drives are all homologated and certified with DNV Type Approval.