Netherlands-based Future Proof Shipping (FPS) has joined a project aimed at introducing a low-emission inland container vessel to Europe's waterways.
FPS will help expand the FLAGSHIPS consortium's green hydrogen-fueled fleet with the addition of the container vessel FPS Waal to the project. Collaborative operations are set to commence this year while the vessel will start sailing on green hydrogen by the summer of 2023.
Over the coming months, FPS will work closely with fuel cell technology specialist Ballard Europe, Norwegian ship design company LMG Marin, and project coordinators VTT. The partners will collaborate across a broad range of activities to complete the engineering, fuel cell provision, and safety studies required for the vessel's approval, by applying and further developing the existing regulatory guidelines.
FPS said the power capacity, size, and design of the propulsion system for FPS Waal will need to be optimised to handle the higher energy consumption rates on the Rotterdam to Duisburg section of the Rhine. The company is also already in discussions with several cargo owners interested in shipping their containers without emissions on this route and who are aiming to move a large part of their sea cargo to inland water transportation.
