FPS Maas: Tip of the Spear in a Fleet of Zero-emission Inland Vessels

EST-Floattech is a part of the FPS Maas retrofit project from Future Proof Shipping and Holland Shipyards Group, both of which are working on sustainable projects, where HSG builds or retrofits the ships, and FPS, as the zero-emissions shipowner, offers sustainable marine transportation services.

With the ‘FPS Maas’, FPS is en route to build and operate a fleet of 10 zero-emission inland and short-sea vessels. For HSG the refit of the ‘Maas’ is part of its ambition to work on a greener and more sustainable shipping industry. Dutch System Integrator Oechies is a part of this project and has chosen to collaborate with EST-Floattech on the refit of the Maas to a hybrid H2-electrical propulsion engine.

In August 2022, FPS Maas made its final journey on an internal combustion engine on diesel from Belgium to Rotterdam. The container ship is currently at Holland Shipyards Group in Werkendam for its retrofit.

During the retrofitting in Q4 of 2022, the diesel propulsion will be replaced with hydrogen technology, removing both the main engine & gearbox and installing a new modular propulsion system. This will consist of electric motors, hydrogen tanks, a fuel cell system and an EST-Floattech battery system with a capacity of 504 kWh. In this case, EST-Floattech’s reliable and DNV-certified Green Orca system will be used for peak shaving, secondary and bridging power. In the Green Orca system, many hard and software fail-safes are implemented to ensure safe and long-time operation of the batteries.

Image courtesy EST-Floattech