Zephyrus Marine says it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Mirai Ships, a Japan-based shipyard, to build the Zephyrus Zero Carbon Offshore wind service vessel.
Ad Hoc Marine Designs Ltd. will be providing the design for the zero-emission crew transfer vessel (CTV), which will incorporate Shift’s PwrSwap technology. This class NK-approved energy storage system will allow crew transfer vessels to swap modular battery systems with ease while providing a zero-emission service to the Japanese offshore wind sector.
The design of the Zephyrus Zero Carbon Offshore wind service operation will be tailored to specifically service Japanese wind and offshore vessels. The fully electric mothership will operate as the hotel and charging station with fully electric daughter vessels that will either be stowed on deck or returned to shore for near-shore operations.
These daughter vessels will be lifted off the mothership and launched into the field. When the charge is low, these CTVs will return to the mothership to dock at the stern, allowing for the spent batteries to be lifted and replaced within minutes.
“By partnering with Mirai Ships in building our unique solution, we can move the needle towards a net-zero shipping industry and we can do so while improving the operational cost and reducing the risk profiles within the offshore Japanese wind sector,” says Rob Stewart, director at Zephyrus.
The Zephyrus Zero Carbon Offshore wind service operation will utilize Shift’s PwrSwap technology – a pay-as-you-go energy subscription service that delivers instant renewable, clean energy to vessels without risk. As a result, vessels can utilize only the energy they need without committing to a fixed energy storage system.
Unlike traditional refueling, which can take hours, it takes between three and 15 minutes to swap modular batteries.
Photo by Mourad Saadi on Unsplash
