MS Medstraum, the world’s first fully electric and zero-emission fast ferry, classed as a high-speed craft, has embarked on the journey from Fjellstrand shipyard to her new home port, Stavanger.
The vessel has been built using unique modular manufacturing methods at the Norwegian shipyard, Fjellstrand. Modularisation helps cut both production costs and engineering costs and will contribute to making electric-powered high-speed vessels competitive in terms of both cost and the environment.
Whilst traditional fast ferries running on fossil fuels are known for being highly polluting, Medstraum will vastly improve the carbon footprint of its owners, Kolumbus, a public transport company.
”We are very happy to finally get this flagship delivered. Kolumbus aims to be at the forefront of adopting new and environmentally technology”, Project Manager at Kolumbus, Mikal Dahle says. The company currently has ten fast ferries, some regular ferries, and 450 buses in operation.
Medstraum will cut our emissions by 1500 tonnes a year, despite operating on our least energy-demanding route. That’s the equivalent of 60 buses, Dahle says. In late summer the vessel will welcome passengers for scheduled operations between Stavanger and Homersåk.
It’s been challenging building this ship, as it’s never been done before, but we’ve learned a lot. Fast ferries require a lot of energy so we needed to make Medstraum lighter and a lot more efficient than traditional fast ferries. It is revolutionary that a vessel of this size can operate at 23 knots for an entire hour by electricity alone,
says Edmund Tolo, head of research and development, at Fjellstrand AS.
