Vote for your favorite multihulls! Catamaran Ika Rere - An electric ferry for New Zealand
Article published on 22/08/2022
Contact the editorpublished inn°185sept. / oct.
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The energy transition, as far as multihulls are concerned, isn’t just about leisure craft! East by West Ferries, a ferry company based in Wellington, New Zealand, has decided to go electric...
Ika Rere (flying fish in Maori), built in carbon, is over 60 feet (nearly 20 meters) long and has two decks. The vessel is powered by two 350 kW motors. The 325-kWh recharging station is able to fully recharge the batteries in 90 minutes. The shipowner would like to uprate the connection to produce 1.25 MWh - the recharge could then be completed in 15 minutes. Note that while the ship doesn’t feature solar panels, the batteries will be powered by renewable electricity.
In the case of Ika Rere, it’s interesting to note that the operator won’t be seeing any restrictions in its services: on the contrary, the maximum speed is now 20 knots, whereas the vessels that make up the current fleet only do up to 14 knots. The same is true for the passenger capacity, which has increased from barely a hundred to 132.
Builder: Wellington Electric Boat Building Company, New Zealand
Naval architect: SSC Marine
Material: carbon
Length: 62’4” (19 m)
Engine: 2 x 350 kW
Maximum speed: 20 knots
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