VESSEL REVIEW | Jining Port Navigation 6006 & 6007 – China's Jining Energy places electric inland cargo ships into service

China’s Jining Energy Group recently took delivery of two new container vessels designed for operation in inland waters.

Jining Port Navigation 6006 and 6007 (济宁港航6006 and 6007; Jining Ganghang 6006 and 6007) were both built by Shandong Xinneng Shipbuilding to a design developed by the Wuhan University of Technology.

The ships each have all-steel construction, a length of 67.6 metres (222 feet), a beam of 12.66 metres (41.54 feet), a depth of four metres (13 feet), a deadweight of 2,000, and space for 62 standard 20-foot containers or an equivalent volume of bulk cargo. The vessels’ profiles are small enough to permit safe passage underneath many low-hanging bridges.

The hull adopts a twin-stern configuration and a single-bottom bow, while the superstructure is placed well forward to ensure unobstructed forward visibility for the bridge crew when navigating through busy inland waters. The cargo hold is of a double-bottom and double-hull configuration.

Battery propulsion with advanced monitoring for greater safety

Each ship is fitted with an electric propulsion system of two main engines and two propellers, which is suitable for reduced-noise and reduced-emission operations even near residential areas along rivers and canals. The engines draw power from two 1,960kWh containerised batteries each made up of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells.

The batteries can also supply the hotel load while a battery management system monitors the operation and status of the LFP battery packs to ensure safety. An intelligent energy management system meanwhile monitors the battery status in real time, optimises energy distribution, and improves the efficiency of energy utilisation.

Among the first ships of a growing inland cargo fleet

Jining Port Navigation 6006 and 6007 will be operated primarily along the Grand Canal, which stretches more than 1,770 kilometres (1,100 miles) from Beijing to Zhejiang province’s capital of Hangzhou. They will replace some of the older diesel-powered ships that used to operate on the same route but have since been pulled from service for being unable to comply with domestic emissions regulations.

The two new ships were built in compliance with China Classification Society rules. Their development coincided with that of Jining Port Navigation 9001, an earlier 90-metre (300-foot), LNG-powered inland container vessel also built by Shandong Xinneng Shipbuilding for operation along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.