With the exception of a small number of tugs and naval submarines powered by lead acid batteries, the use of energy storage systems on commercial vessels has a history of just over a decade following the delivery of the ferry Ampere in 2015. Ferries still dominate the hybrid ship market but the technology is spreading to other sectors, and the environmental and efficiency benefits are being enthusiastically embraced around the globe.

At the beginning of this year, DNV released its latest Alternative Fuels Insight report which stated that 1072 hybrid or pure battery powered vessels had already entered service and a further 468 were on order for delivery over the next three years to the end of 2028. To achieve such a high number in such a relatively short space of time is quite an achievement especially as the technology was relatively unknown in the maritime sector.