Zephyrus Marine has recently announced that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mirai Ships, a leading shipyard based in Miyagi prefecture, Japan, to construct the Zephyrus Zero Carbon Offshore wind service vessel.
The vessel will be a zero-emission Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV) designed by Ad Hoc Marine Designs Ltd. and will incorporate Shift’s PwrSwäp technology, a class NK-approved energy storage system that will enable crew transfer vessels to swap their modular battery systems with ease, providing a zero-emission service to the Japanese offshore wind sector.
The Zephyrus Zero Carbon Offshore wind service vessel will be custom-designed to service Japanese wind and offshore vessels. The fully electric Mothership will operate as the hotel and charging station with fully electric daughter vessels that will either be stowed on deck or returned to shore for near-shore operations.
These daughter vessels will be launched into the field by lifting them off the Mothership. When the daughter vessels' charge runs low, they will return to the Mothership and dock at the stern, where their spent batteries ("e-pods") will be lifted and replaced with fully charged ones within minutes.
The Zephyrus Zero Carbon Offshore wind service operation will utilize Shift’s PwrSwäp technology – a pay-as-you-go energy subscription service that delivers instant renewable, clean energy to vessels without risk. As a result, vessels can utilize only the energy they need without committing to a fixed energy storage system.
The technology is based on a network of swappable battery e-Pods and containers that are connected through cloud-based service and management centers. This technology will facilitate the transition of Japanese wind and offshore vessels to hybrid or fully electric vessels by reducing emissions, costs, and refueling time, which can take hours. It takes only 3-15 minutes to swap modular batteries using PwrSwäp.
This partnership between Zephyrus Marine, Shift, Mirai Ships, and Ad Hoc marks an important milestone towards decarbonizing the shipping industry in Japan and beyond. Zephyrus is actively working towards electrification solutions for offshore wind, and Ad Hoc's SWATH CTVs are a natural fit to withstand the harsh annual conditions of Japanese waters, known for rough seas all year round.