China's Ningbo Ocean Shipping (NBOS) has placed its newest electric container vessel into operational service.
The recently delivered Ningyuan Dian Kun (宁远电鲲) was built by Jiangxi Jiangxin Shipbuilding, which said that the ship is the first 10,000DWT electric container vessel to be built and operated in China.
The newbuild has an LOA of 127.8 metres, a beam of 21.6 metres, a depth of 10.5 metres, and a capacity of 740 TEUs. Ten containerised batteries with a combined capacity of 19,000 kWh drive two 875kW permanent magnet motors to propel the ship to speeds of up to 11.5 knots.
The batteries can be swapped with fully charged ones when pierside, though charging via a shore power connection is also possible. Solar panels are also fitted to provide additional electrical power for the hotel load.
Ningyuan Dian Kun is being operated as part of NBOS' feeder fleet that serves the Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan in Zhejiang province. Ningyuan Dian Peng, the second ship in the same series, was recently launched and will follow her earlier sister into service within this year.
Construction of the ships was undertaken in compliance with China Classification Society requirements.