Built in Tasmania, on the banks of the Derwent, engineers have reimagined what a high-speed ferry can be, inspiring a new era in marine electrification.
In May 2025, crowds lined the Hobart waterfront, craning for a glimpse, as a shiny new passenger ferry slipped gracefully into the water. But this was no ordinary vessel. This was Hull 096 – the latest commission of Hobart-based Incat, long-time builders of lightweight, high-speed aluminium catamarans.
It’s also the world’s largest battery-electric ship.
At 130 m long, Hull 096 is, as Incat CEO Stephen Casey declared, “the largest electric vehicle of any kind ever built, and one of the most significant single export items in Australia’s manufacturing history”.
Where four dual-fuel LNG engines might normally thunder away, the ship hums silently on pure battery power. In dispensing with combustion altogether, Incat’s engineers have reimagined what a high-speed ferry can be – clean, quiet and uncompromisingly modern.
Commissioned by South American ferry giant Buquebus, Hull 096 will carry 2100 passengers and 225 vehicles across the River Plate, between Buenos Aires in Argentina and Colonia in Uruguay, turning a workhorse commuter route into a showcase for maritime innovation.
Why battery‑electric?
The decision to move from LNG to battery power was as much philosophical as it was technical. Ferries, vital to urban mobility worldwide, are too often synonymous with diesel smoke and engine roar.
“Incat and Buquebus have a shared vision,” Casey said. “The decision to move from an LNG-powered design to a fully battery-electric vessel was driven by the opportunity to lead the industry towards net-zero emissions.”
And this extends beyond the vessel’s powertrain, as “100 per cent of the energy consumed in its construction comes from renewable sources”.
The benefits ripple far beyond carbon reduction: zero exhaust emissions on the water, a gentler acoustic footprint, and a markedly more pleasant ride for passengers and waterfront communities alike.
This leap was enabled by major advances in energy-storage technology. Incat chose Dolphin NxtGen battery modules from Norwegian energy innovator Corvus Energy: compact, lightweight, efficient. The result: an energy-storage system of more than 5000 modules, tipping the scales at over 250 t and delivering an eye-watering 40 MWh of capacity – four times larger than any other maritime installation.
To keep speed and efficiency in harmony, the lightweight aluminium hull aims for hydrodynamic grace, slicing through the water with minimal drag to reach a 25 kn service speed.
Scale and systems
Housing 250 t of batteries in an aluminium catamaran was a feat of engineering sleight-of-hand. Engineers had to balance weight distribution, reinforce structures and fine-tune stability, all without sacrificing speed.
Powering this leviathan is an eight-motor symphony: permanent-magnet electric motors driving Wärtsilä WXJ1100 waterjets. Delivering approximately 24,000 hp, this setup marries muscle with efficiency. The waterjets themselves were engineered to be “tens of tonnes lighter than on previous Incat installations”, a saving that helped offset the mass of the batteries.
As Wärtsilä notes, this configuration delivers “low weight, a shallow draft and excellent manoeuvrability – critical characteristics when docking at busy urban terminals”.
Efficiency and charging
Despite all its grandeur, Hull 096 is a model of operational precision. At 25 kn, it makes the Buenos Aires-Colonia run in about 75 minutes. Rapid turnaround is enabled by automated charging towers at each terminal, topping up the batteries in just 60-90 minutes.
The entire ecosystem, from the energy-management brain and power-conversion muscle to the DC hub, shore-charging kit and ProTouch propulsion controls, comes via Wärtsilä, a company betting heavily on an electrified maritime future.
“Ferries play a vital role in meeting the growing demand for environmentally sustainable transport options, with ship electrification a key solution for enabling the sector to transition towards net zero emissions,” Wärtsilä Marine President Roger Holm told the Tasmanian Times.
Safety, of course, is paramount. Incat, Corvus and Wärtsilä devised rigorous protections: fire-resistant enclosures, advanced ventilation, thermal-runaway isolation and constant system monitoring, all built to withstand the punishing realities of marine life.
Regulatory approvals spanned multiple jurisdictions, with Hull 096’s blueprint likely to influence future battery-electric ship standards worldwide.
A turning point
For Casey, Hull 096 is far more than an engineering milestone. “It is the first fully-electric vessel of its size in the region, the largest battery installation ever fitted to a ship, and a testament to what can be achieved through collaboration, innovation and vision.”
With battery technology evolving and charging networks expanding, the knowledge gleaned from Hull 096 will feed into a new generation of electric craft – faster, sleeker and capable of longer voyages.
Incat sees it as proof that zero-emission ferries are not just a green dream, but a commercially sound reality.
“At Incat, we’re not just building a ship. We’re building the future of sustainable transport, right here in Tasmania,” Casey said.
It’s also a masterclass in integrated design; aligning hull form, energy storage, propulsion and infrastructure into a coherent, commercially viable whole.
And the story doesn’t end here. In July 2025, Incat revealed it had won the contract to design and build two battery-electric ferries for Danish operator Molslinjen. Slightly shorter at 129 m, these vessels will carry about 45 MWh of batteries and hit speeds above 40 kn on the bustling Kattegat route.
Incat Chairman Robert Clifford calls the project another “turning point not just for Incat but for the global maritime industry”, noting it will spawn a new class of high-speed, low-emission ships. The expansion is also an economic boon for Tasmania, with Incat’s Prince of Wales Bay facility set to double both its capacity and its workforce.
High-speed, all-electric shipping is no longer a distant aspiration. It’s here, it’s humming and it’s built in Tasmania.
This story was originally published in the November 2025 edition of create with the headline “Changing currents”.
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