Samskip, Ocean Infinity Secure ENOVA Funds for Hydrogen-fuelled SeaShuttle Containership Pair
Norwegian state enterprise ENOVA has awarded NOK150 million (€15M) in funding for SeaShuttle, a project for the construction of two hydrogen-powered, remotely controlled, and autonomous-ready containerships for delivery by 2025.
The project, led by multimodal transport and logistics group Samskip and marine robotics specialist Ocean Infinity, envisages two SeaShuttle ships operating emissions-free between Oslo Fjord and Rotterdam, with each powered by a 3.2MW hydrogen fuel cell.
The funding means the partners can move forward to contract two new 500TEU ships installed with a main propulsion solution that can be adapted to run on hydrogen fuel.
ENOVA, which operates under Norway’s Ministry of Climate and Environment, promotes a shift towards more environmentally friendly energy consumption and production, as well as technologies based on sustainable energy.
Originally announced at Nor-Shipping 2022, Oslo, in April, the Samskip-Ocean Infinity partnership covers both the construction and operation of the ships, in a collaboration seeking to push forward towards zero-emission, efficient and safe, multimodal logistics.
"Samskip is very proud to take the lead role in pioneering the SeaShuttle initiative, as part of its ‘making green logistics easy’ strategy," said Are Gråthen, CEO, Samskip Norway.
"Securing this funding provides a platform to make emissions-free container shipping a reality. Together, Samskip and Ocean Infinity will also accelerate their plans to advance autonomous ship technologies and remote operation of ships and cargo handling equipment. These ships are the first part of an exciting collaboration with Ocean Infinity."
In line with commitments given at COP26 Clydebank Declaration, SeaShuttle would create what amounted to one of Europe’s first zero-emission ‘green corridors’," Gråthen added.
Christoffer Jorgenvag, CCO, Ocean Infinity, said: “Ocean Infinity’s enabling technologies can facilitate green corridors but also the broader decarbonization and transformation of maritime operations. The emphasis today is on the SeaShuttle vessels, which are just part of Ocean Infinity’s overall strategy of unlocking innovation to deliver truly sustainable maritime operations. We would like to thank Enova for their support for our vision which represents a firm endorsement of our ground-breaking approach and allows us to proceed at full speed in bringing this project to life.”
While the plan is to build the vessels to run on hydrogen, diesel electric propulsion plant will be on board as back-up. Gråthen still said:"We have faith that green hydrogen will be affordable and available in Norway."
