South Korean port of Busan launches country's first all-electric ferry

Busan Port Authority (BPA) has officially launched South Korea’s first state-owned all-electric ferry.

Built by Busan’s Kangnam Corp, the new passenger ferry is the first vessel built in a nationwide plan to replace 140 of South Korea’s state-owned vessels with ships running on cleaner energy sources by 2030, in line with the country’s environmental legislation.

Announced in 2020, the country’s Green New Deal foresees cleaner-operating ferries as playing a significant role in South Korea’s goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

“This vessel demonstrates Busan Port Authority’s commitment to cleaner, smarter port operations,” Busan Port Authority port manager Woong-Ki Lee said. “By introducing an all-electric ferry to serve our North–South Port connection, we are reducing local emissions and noise while providing a replicable model for future harbour craft.”

South Korea and Kangnam Corp contracted ABB to provide the vessel’s integrated electric propulsion and energy storage system.

Equipped with two 1,068-kWh battery packs for emissions-free operations, the vessel will take approximately 1.5 hours to fully charge the battery using 500 kW of power, which enables about 2 hours of operation. While the vessel is berthed, it is connected to the shore charging station, which allows for automatic control of charging and discharging from on board the ship.

“The launch of this new passenger ferry is testament to both Busan Port Authority’s and South Korea’s decarbonisation ambitions and provides a blueprint in pursuit of increasing energy efficiency and reducing emissions,” said ABB Marine & Ports division’s Riccardo Repetto.