Hydrogen-powered ferry prepares to launch in San Francisco Bay

Record ID: 1669527

  • Title: Hydrogen-powered ferry prepares to launch in San Francisco Bay
  • Date: 21st April 2022
  • Summary: BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES (APRIL 7, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) PACE RALLI, CEO FOR SWITCH MARITIME ON DECK OF SEA CHANGE FERRY, SAYING: “The idea of a hydrogen ferry came about four years ago as a concept. My partners and I have been working on decarbonized shipping projects since 2012, and I was actually riding a ferry between Manhattan and Brookl
  • Embargoed: 5th May 2022 11:44
  • Keywords: ALL AMERICAN MARINE CLIMATE CHANGE HYDROGEN FERRY SCIENCE SWITCH MARITIME TECHNOLOGY TRANSPORTATION
  • Location: BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES
  • City: BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Science,United States
  • Reuters ID: LVA004188514042022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The San Francisco Bay will soon have a new fossil-fuel-free ferry floating in its waters, propelled completely by hydrogen fuel cells.
    The aptly named Sea Change is a 70-foot, 75-passenger ferry that will service multiple stops along San Francisco's waterfront. It was built at All American Marine shipyard in Bellingham, Washington, and undergoing tests with the U.S. Coast Guard in nearby Puget Sound.
    “We're operational. We're here in the water, under hydrogen fuel cell power and it's the first commercial vessel in the world that's got that propulsion system,” says Pace Ralli, CEO of Switch Maritime, standing on the bow of this one-of-a-kind ferry in Bellingham Bay.
    The Sea Change marks another industry exploring fuel cells as the auto and commercial trucking sector, as well as rail and pleasure boating are also developing such vehicles.
    Advocates assert hydrogen fuel cells are cleaner than other carbon-cutting methods as they only emit water and heat, but the technology has only seen limited usage in many industries on concerns about high costs and the bulky size of fuel cell systems.
    Ralli conceived the idea for the fuel cell-powered ferry while living in New York City, trying to find ways to decarbonize the maritime industry.
    “I was actually riding a ferry between Manhattan and Brooklyn, I was living in Brooklyn at the time and thought that this could be a fit for this new decarbonized technology,” says Ralli. “There was a project in California that was being sponsored by the California Air Resources Board, and they were working on hydrogen fuel cell as a method for decarbonizing ships. So we joined up with them and funded their project in 2019.”
    As Ralli talks to Reuters, three hydrogen fuel cell stacks are whirring away in the engine room, helping power two propellers that move the ferry along at a top speed of 20 knots.
    All-American Marine project manager Jeff Sokolik stands at the helm of the Sea Change, pressing buttons on a touchscreen that engages automated systems communicating with the engine room.
    “This is going to be the next standard is fuel cell-driven vessels. They're clean, they're efficient and they make sense economically on the scale,” says Sokolik, who believes widespread adaptation of this eco-friendly maritime innovation could be as soon as ten years from now. “It is a personal passion of mine to try to bring clean energy and technologies, and All American Marine boats are traditionally some of the most fuel-efficient boats out there, something that we take a lot of pride in. This project allowed us to take that to the next level of being completely carbon neutral with the boat that we built.”
    As companies move toward a zero-emission world, the desire to hit their sustainability targets has risen.
    The International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Greenhouse Gas Study conducted in 2020, states that greenhouse gas emissions including carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide have increased from 977 million tonnes in 2012 to 1,076 million tonnes in 2018, a 9.6% increase in six years. “We’re focused on the shipping industry because that’s where we have the expertise, but I don’t think any industry can really wait at this point," says Ralli, who believes now is the time to fight climate change across the globe.
    He takes a turn at the helm of the Sea Change as it returns to Chimacum Harbor where it currently resides, joking with an All American Marine employee that he grew up in boats but has never piloted one this big before.
    “I think the sea change is really a catalyst,” says Ralli. “We’re really paving the regulatory framework that's needed to take this to a larger harbor craft, whether it's tugs and other larger ferries or even ocean-going vessels like container ships and cruise ships and tankers.”
    If all goes to plan, Ralli says the boat will be delivered to the Bay Area in late May and will be serving passengers this June, just in time for San Francisco’s summer season.
    (Production: Matt M. McKnight)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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