Chartwell Marine has successfully completed a demonstration project aimed at developing an electric trimaran fast ferry.
Photos distributed by the UK ship designer show the futuristic-looking vessel, which bears some resemblance to a speeder in the fictional world of Stars Wars, in sea trials in waters off Southampton, England.
Chartwell Marine said the project set out to explore the feasibility of zero-emissions passenger ferries.
Sea trials revealed that the TriFoiler design is five times cheaper to run than a traditional monohull vessel using fossil fuels.
Chartwell managing director Andy Page said the results were encouraging.
“The sea trial results clearly show that a trimaran, coupled with electric propulsion systems, will provide an efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly solution for the ferry industry,” he said.
The project demonstrated the potential to reduce energy consumption with or without use of the vessel’s foils, Chartwell said.
The company said the trials highlighted the suitability of the trimaran design for inland and inshore waterways.
UK competition
The project was part of the UK government’s clean maritime demonstration competition. The effort received a grant of £1.86m ($2.51m) from the UK Department of Transport’s UK Shore programme.
The trials followed the “on-time, on-budget” launch of the vessel in March, Chartwell said.
Efficiencies were achieved at both high and low speed.
The vessel was designed in partnership with Southampton Solent University and Newcastle Marine Services.
Solent University senior lecturer Giles Barkley said the project shows how collaboration between academia and industry can accelerate innovation.
“We created a full-size digital twin of the vessel to replicate its performance on water at the university,” Barkley said.
“Now, validated with data from the trials, this enables us to enhance future designs while also supporting the training and development of the next generation of naval architects.”
