A scale model of Estonia's planned €49.93 million electric ferry has passed its first tests in Germany, reaching 14 knots where the contract requires 12.
The boat, once built, will be the fifth ferry in the fleet serving Saaremaa, Muhu and Hiiumaa, and is planned for the Virtsu–Kuivastu route. It will be Estonia's first shore-charged electric ferry.
The week-long tests at the Schiffbau-Versuchsanstalt Potsdam center evaluated the vessel's seagoing and hydrodynamic properties and checked energy efficiency and propulsion solutions, the State Fleet said. Ice model tests follow in Finland in late November.
Model testing allows planned solutions to be checked and improved before construction begins. The tests used an 8.2-meter scale model of the hull matches the planned vessel's shape and proportions exactly, fitted with accurate scale copies of its drives and propellers.
Eero Avi, a shipbuilding engineer and chief specialist with the State Fleet's (Riigilaevastik) ferry project, attended the tests and said they showed good work had been done on the hull design. Energy consumption is low for the vessel's size and remains within contract limits, with some margin.
"The tests showed that although the construction contract sets the vessel's maximum speed at 12 knots, the model was able to reach 14 knots, with some power reserve still remaining," Avi added.
Ice model testing takes place at the end of November at Railotech's ice model basin in Helsinki, checking the hull and propulsion system's performance in level ice of varying thickness and in brash ice, meaning an accumulation of floating sea ice or river ice made up of small fragments not more than 2 meters across.
The project is co-financed by the EU Modernization Fund, whose terms require the new vessel to be significantly more energy-efficient than existing ones.
The full-sized ferry will have a 3 MWh battery, allowing fully electric operation in normal conditions on the route. Biodiesel generators will keep service running in heavier seas and emergencies, and its range without refuelling is at least 1,000 nautical miles.
The actual ship when build will be close to 100 meters in length and able to accommodate up to 380 passengers and up to 110 passenger vehicles, or eight trucks.
The vessel will be built by Polish shipyard CRIST S.A. and designed by subcontractor LMG Marin France, which also designed the ferries now operating the route. The contract is worth €49.93 million, with €28 million from the EU Modernisation Fund and the rest from Estonia's national CO₂ quota sale funds.
The Virtsu–Kuivastu route links the mainland with Muhu and, via a causeway, Saaremaa, and is one of Estonia's busiest ferry crossings. The fifth ferry is part of a wider fleet renewal and is due to enter service at the end of 2028.
A cold spell at the start of this year led to thick sea ice and falling sea levels and caused problems with island ferry connections, with cancellations and some of the smaller islands cut off from the mainland.
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