French shipowner Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) is leading a French consortium aiming to develop and build a zero-emissions crew transfer vessel (CTV).
The bulker specialist has formed the group with naval architect Mauric, shipping systems company Barillec Marine, hydrofoil designer SEAir and propulsion start-up ADV Propulse.
The partners have already been working for three months on the new ship, called ZEST, for transferring personnel to offshore wind farms.
