Nichols Brothers to Build Hybrid San Francisco Bay Ferries
Ice Floe, LLC, doing business as Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB), has been awarded a contract by San Francisco Bay Ferry to design and construct two 400-passenger battery-electric ferries as part of the agency’s Rapid Electric Emission Free (REEF) Ferry Program.
The 142’-1” x 34’-9” Subchapter K vessels will operate at 25 knots, serving central bay routes that seamlessly connect Oakland and Alameda to San Francisco.
They will significantly reduce emissions in the San Francisco Bay Area.
NBBB will be collaborating with vessel designer Incat Crowther, Wärtsilä North America, the electrical propulsion system integrator, and engineering company Ockerman Automation Consulting.
The modular propulsion system features four independent propulsion units, each equipped with a Hydromaster drive, and a scalable energy storage system - including MCS charging units, a DC grid, and advanced DC conversion technology, all provided by EPSI Wärtsilä North America.
As a leader in aluminum vessel manufacturing since 1982, NBBB pioneered the first high-speed aluminum catamaran in U.S. waters. Over the past four decades, the company has delivered more than 50 new high-speed catamarans and completed numerous repairs, rebuilds, and repowers of aluminum passenger vessels.
