The world's first commercial ferry powered by hydrogen fuel cells begins operation in San Francisco, USA

San Francisco Bay Ferry in California, USA, and the public-private partner group began operating the world's first commercial passenger ferry “MV Sea Change (MV Sea Change),” which is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell with zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, on 7/19 and opened an external site in a new window. This ferry will operate a route of about 10 minutes between San Francisco's Pier 41 and the downtown ferry terminal as a demonstration test for half a year.

This ship is a 70-foot (about 21.3 meters), 75-seater catamaran ferry with a total length of 70 feet (about 21.3 meters), developed by All-American Marine in Washington State with a grant of 3 million dollars from the California Air Resources Board (CARB), and is owned by Switch Maritime (SWITCH Maritime), a startup founded in 2018. The hydrogen fuel cell power package composed of a 360 kilowatt (kW) fuel cell made of US Cummins and a hydrogen storage tank made by Norwegian Hexagon Plus with a capacity of 246 kilograms is provided by Zero Emission Industry (ZEI), a California startup founded in 2018, and is integrated with 100 kWhr (kWh) lithium-ion batteries and 2 300 kW electric propulsion systems.

Initiatives aimed at decarbonizing the shipping industry and utilizing hydrogen

When I boarded the ship, the engine noise was quiet compared to conventional ships, and both outside and inside the ship were very quiet. Only water is discharged, and that water can now be drunk on board as drinking water.

Pace Rally Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Switch Maritime responded to the JETRO interview, “This demonstration test is the first step in advancing decarbonization of the shipping industry, and we want to operate even larger zero-emission ships in the future. More power and storage capacity are needed in order to extend cruising range etc. to that end. Cooperation with technology providers and equipment providers is important, and I would like to collaborate with Japanese companies as well.” Also, ZEI CEO Joe Pratt, who provided the hydrogen power system, said, “FT case” technology developed by ZEI to transfer hydrogen is also being used on this ship. In the future, the cost of manufacturing hydrogen from renewable energy will become cheaper than light oil. California, Japan, and Germany are progressing in the development and utilization of hydrogen, but an era where hydrogen will be used sooner than expected will come in any country. I would like to develop business in Japan in the future,” he said.