New partnership to research fuel cell use in harbour craft

A pilot project between Bureau Veritas (BV), South Korean aluminium boat building specialist, Vinssen Co Ltd, and the Ecolabs Centre of Innovation (CoI) for Energy at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, is to research the potential for fuel cells to be integrated into harbour craft power systems. BV’s new Centre for Alternative and Renewable Energy will lead the initiative.

The classification society’s David Barrow, vice president South Asia Zone, Marine & Offshore, said: “Bureau Veritas is glad to have the industrial expert, Vinssen, and a world-renowned university, NTU Singapore, working together hand-in-hand to come up with solutions for the changing industry needs. With strong industrial collaboration, BV shall continue to provide turnkey services for marine environment protection and innovation towards sustainable maritime.” Chil-han Lee, Vinssen CEO, commented: “Vinssen is actively developing propulsion and control systems for alternative marine fuels including Hydrogenia, Korea’s first commercial hydrogen electric boat. We take pride in our efforts to create environmentally friendly products that will have a positive impact on our customers while also reducing pollution on our planet. With collaboration with NTU and BV, we hope to extend our product portfolio to Singapore and beyond.”

CoI programme director, Mahesh Kumar, stressed the importance of hydrogen as a possible future fuel. “Hydrogen is a key element in decarbonised economy,” he said. “This partnership is expected to benefit local ecosystem here while facilitating energy transition and associated infrastructure developments for decarbonisation. We are pleased to support the development of the project through our extensive network of global partners, including corporate partners, government agencies, investors, research institutions and other successful start-ups.”