Croatian yard starts building wind-powered cruise ship

Croatian shipyard Brodosplit has begun construction on a new three-masted cruise sailship.

Once completed, the vessel will be 63.5 metres long and 10 metres wide, with a height of 5.35 metres to the main deck. The hull and the superstructure will be made of steel and the masts will be made of aluminium.

When not under sail, the ship will be powered by two 150kW electric motors, each of which is connected to batteries that continuously charged from different sources.

The vessel will be equipped with 30 tonnes of batteries with a maximum capacity of 2,300 kWh. Due to legal requirements, there will also be two diesel generators that will be switched on only when needed or during emergencies.

Two vertical wind turbines at the bow and stern will supply the ship with electricity when it is in port and the sails are lowered. An array of photovoltaic panels will be installed on the roof of the superstructure to augment the electrical power provided by the main batteries.

The vessel will be designed to also be capable of charging its batteries while sailing. A system of ship propellers with variable pitch and a special blade geometry will be used to serve as water turbines when sailing, and each “reversible propeller” will then charge the high-power batteries in the lower deck.

Brodosplit said the ship will sail the Adriatic along the coasts of Croatia, Italy, Slovenia, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece, and out of season in the Caribbean and other tourist destinations.