Denmark-based international shipping and logistics company DFDS (Det Forenede Dampskibs- Selskab) reaffirmed its commitment to the electrification of cross-channel transport after meeting with UK Minister for Investment and Regulatory Reform, Lord Dominic Johnson. DFDS‘s long-term goal is to have up to six battery-powered vessels operating on its routes on the English Channel, with the first two in service by 2030.

This is a part of a program to invest in six green vessels—two methanol-fueled, two ammonia-fueled and two electric—for a total of around DKK 7.3 billion (US$1.0 billion) over the next six years. The long-term goal is to introduce up to six fully electric vessels on the channel, which would be the world’s largest electric ferries.

Because of the relative short distance between the UK and the European continent, the routes on the channel are optimal for electric ferry transport, DFDS said. The English Channel is one of the busiest shipping corridors in the world. It links two of the world’s biggest economies and accounts for 33% of the trade between the EU and the UK.

DFDS has 12 routes connecting UK to France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark and employs 3,300 people in 5 ports, several logistics offices in the UK and onboard 3 UK flagged vessels.

Hydrogen propulsion feasibility study. Separately, H2 Energy and DFDS worked together on a project to analyze the feasibility of retrofitting large ferries with a hydrogen propulsion system. Now, the project has been finalized contributing with important knowledge for further analysis on the use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel for sea and road transport. The project was supported by the Danish Maritime Fund.

Although hydrogen is not included in the DFDS six-green vessel program, and although DFDS is not planning to use hydrogen as a fuel in the very near future, DFDS will continue to contribute to the development of knowledge on hydrogen as part of the company’s ongoing analysis of possible net-zero scenarios for both vessels and road transport.

With support from the Danish Maritime Fund, DFDS, H2 Energy and LLoyds set out to uncover the technical and operational feasibility of hydrogen propulsion systems by analysing the main aspects of a complete hydrogen ecosystem using the DFDS cargo (RoRo) vessel Magnolia Seaways on the Esbjerg-Immingham-Esbjerg route as the focal point of the study. This includes sourcing of green hydrogen from H2 Energy’s large scale production facility in Esbjerg, on-shore supply and logistics, including bunkering, application of a hydrogen-fueled powertrain, and safety measures.

The Lloyd’s Register (LR) Maritime Decarbonisation Hub also contributed to the study with a safety risk assessment and issued an ‘Approval in Principle’ (AiP) for the concept and the initial design of the hydrogen systems.

Now, the project is finalized and the study concluded that retrofitting Magnolia Seaways with a hydrogen-fueled propulsion system is technically feasible and commercially viable under a set of basic assumptions.