Shanghai Pan-Asia Shipping, the intra-Asia unit of Cosco Shipping Lines, has signed time-charter agreements with leasing affiliate Cosco Shipping Development (CSD) for two electric 700 TEU feeder vessels.
The vessels, expected to be delivered, in late 2023, will ferry containers between Shanghai and Wuhan, along the Yangtze, promoting green inland waterway transport.
Each ship is 119.8 metres, 23.6m wide and has a draught of 5.5m, powered by 36 20ft containerised batteries that can be charged to 50,000 kWh of electricity using shore power. They are expected to be the first fully electric ships to work the Yangtze.
Commenting on the agreement, Huang Xiaowen, executive VP of parent Cosco Shipping Holdings, said:
The selection of the Yangtze to promote green shipping is part of our plan to protect the river’s ecological environment and to support the government’s decarbonisation goal
CSD is also developing and manufacturing containerised batteries to facilitate the charging of electric vessels and battery replacements in key domestic waters.
