On July 26, COSCO Shipping Development launched an electric container ship, with a capacity of 700 TEU, for deployment on China’s inland waterways.
Built at COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Yangzhou), the vessel is said to be a 10,000 ton river-to-sea ship, with a total length of 119.8 metres, a breadth of 23.6 metres, a draft of 5.5 metres and two 900 kilowatt motors.
Its replaceable batteries have to be swapped out during its voyage along the Yangtze Rive and it reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 2,362 per year. COSCO adds that it reduces carbon dioxide emissions by about 32 tons for each 24 hours of driving.
COSCO Shipping and COSCO Shipping Development are founders of the China Electric Ship Innovation Alliance, which was established earlier this year with support from around 80 bodies including the Chinese Department of Infrastructure, the Waterborne Transport Administration of the Ministry of Transport, the Maritime Safety Administration and others.
The Alliance is intended to help integrate resources from across the green shipping industry to promote industry standards for green and low-carbon ships.
