Dutch clean-tech firm Wattlab has partnered with HGK Shipping to equip the Blue Marlin with a cutting-edge solar power system.<\/p>\n
Featuring 192 solar panels, the vessel is the first of its kind to use solar energy for both onboard and propulsion systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means HGK Shipping can proudly state that they are the first inland shipping company to operate a vessel that uses solar power directly for propulsion,\u201d said David Kester, COO and co-founder of Wattlab.<\/p>\n
Greener waterways<\/strong><\/p>\n The Blue Marlin delivers up to 35 kilowatts of solar power, working alongside four diesel generators in a fully integrated system.<\/p>\n This setup enables \u201cpeak shaving\u201d and energy automation to reduce fuel consumption and optimise performance. Under light loads and downstream conditions, the vessel may even sail solely on solar power, which is an industry first for inland shipping.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are proud to pioneer the use of solar propulsion in inland shipping,\u201d said Tim G\u00f6dde, director ship management at HGK.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Blue Marlin demonstrates what\u2019s possible when innovation meets engineering expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n The project underscores a broader shift toward sustainable shipping, as operators increasingly explore scalable, hybrid energy systems to meet regulatory demands.<\/p>\n Wattlab said its solar innovations are also proving viable for coastal and seagoing vessels, not just inland waterways, meaning solar could be part of the future energy mix for vessel propulsion going forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The world\u2019s first hybrid solar-powered inland vessel has launched, setting a new standard for sustainable shipping on Europe\u2019s inland waterways.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":5459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,46],"tags":[286,2172,274,166,2173],"sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-5458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alternative-fuels-greenport","category-energy-technology-greenport","tag-hybrid-vessel","tag-inland-shipping","tag-inland-waterways","tag-solar-power","tag-solar-powered-vessel"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5458"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5460,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5458\/revisions\/5460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5458"},{"taxonomy":"sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sponsor?post=5458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}