PODCAST: Bibby Marine on the cusp of eCSOV launch

Just a couple of months after Bibby Marine laid the keel for its first eCSOV, Maritime Journal caught up with Newbuild Project Director Gavin Forward, who reveals what Bibby is doing.

The vessel, currently under construction in Vigo, will feature the world’s largest battery pack for its class – a 24.4MWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) system supplied by Corvus Energy.

In our podcast, Forward talks about the prospects for batteries in maritime as a whole, predicting that the way things are going, they will become much cheaper and therefore more viable for a wider industry.

He also explains why Bibby Marine selected the chemistry it did – lithium iron phosphate – which has other advantages over the more traditional and more energy dense nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) option.

Batteries need charging, and Forward discusses how this can be achieved and how different vessel requirements mean the need is not always the same. And while diesel gensets are still a must on these new battery-powered vessels, in the not-too-distant future there could well be a scenario when the boats are simply carrying one in case of emergency.

“As long as you have reliable charging offshore and onshore, then you don’t need the engines,” he says. “Then that brings down the whole price of the vessel as well, if we don’t need that extra infrastructure on board.”

Alternative fuels will also be needed to go alongside the battery roll-out, and our discussion goes on to methanol, and why Forward is one of quite a few who believe this is the frontrunner.

Find out more by listening to our podcast.