Italian ferry operator Liberty Lines has said its new hybrid fast ferries were unable to use their electric propulsion for more than 18 months while the company secured the necessary approvals.
Liberty Lines Commercial Director Alessandro Morace said Italy lacks specific classification rules for hybrid navigation. As a result, the company had to hold lengthy discussions with the capitaneria di porto before it could operate the electric component of the new vessels.
"For more than a year and a half, we were in the paradoxical situation of having hybrid ships on which we could not switch on the electric part," Morace said.
He said the matter was later resolved through prolonged work with the competent authorities and the high-speed craft sector.
Francesca De Santis, head of navigation infrastructure operations at Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), described similar difficulties in gaining approval for the battery propulsion installed on the railway ferry Iginia.
"At present in Italy there is no clear and unambiguous rule that allows authorisations to operate to be obtained immediately, directly," De Santis said. "Technological innovation moves ahead, we can do everything, but implementation, and therefore authorisation to use these innovative systems, is slow to arrive."
RFI obtained approval for Iginia using the SOLAS convention and European Maritime Safety Agency guidance on onboard energy storage. The process followed the alternative design and arrangements equivalence principle, which requires an alternative solution to demonstrate safety at least equal to that of conventional systems. It involved risk analysis, technical documentation and a vessel-specific assessment by the flag state.
RFI plans to begin building shore power infrastructure at Messina in January 2027, with connection points supplying two MW at each railway-ferry berth. De Santis said the work would later extend to Villa San Giovanni.
Charging during port calls is intended to allow progressively longer periods of fully electric operation across the Strait of Messina.
Liberty Lines now has nine hybrid ferries in service connecting Sicily with its smaller islands. The 39.5-metre aluminium vessels carry up to 251 passengers.
Built by Spain’s Armon, they were introduced under a fleet renewal programme that began in 2022. The first of the series was Vittorio Morace (pictured).
Morace said the ferries run on electric power when approaching ports, during port stays and on departure, and switch to conventional propulsion offshore. The company claims a 30 per cent reduction in CO₂ emissions compared with the vessels they replaced.