The good idea to move cargo ships with electric motors

The idea has been put forward by a New Orleans start-up called Fleetzero and involves using a battery housed in a container that can be easily placed and removed on the top surface of a ship. And of course several containers can be placed on top of each other to increase the available capacity of the batteries.

When the ship reaches its destination, some batteries are changed for others and in a short time the ship it is ready to sail again without polluting, thanks to its electric motors.

A schematic of the ship can be seen in the bottom photo.

The battery is inside a 20-foot container, weighs 8 tons and provides 2 MWh of energy.

In the photo below you can see what the battery container looks like.

The idea is designed for medium-sized boats, since the larger the boat, the greater the need for battery power. But the concept seems good to me, simple and easy to expand; and it has the additional advantage that it could be used in current boats whose motor is changed for an electric one, thus taking advantage of the investments already made.

This container with the batteries is reinforced so that it can withstand the marine environment and be reused many times after being recharged at the port’s land-based facilities.

Fleetzero wants to have a ship running by the middle of the year 2023, and I understand that it is yet another way (not excluding others) to eliminate the pollution generated by transport ships.

Depending on the size of the boat, this will be the need for the size of the batteries, so the idea can be used for various circumstances. The larger the ship, the more overlapping batteries are placed on it. And also, as electric motors are smaller than the current fuel ones, ships have much more available space in their holds that can be used to transport cargo.

It remains to be seen how far this idea develops. It is a simple, good and modular idea, since containers are the standard physical spaces with which maritime transport works, and port cranes take a few minutes to handle them.

I wish the best to the people of Fleetzero, their idea deserves it