Ostseestaal/Ampereship delivers electric passenger ship for Lake Zurich
Stralsund - A heavy-duty transporter with unusual freight rolled off the premises of Ostseestaal GmbH & Co. KG in Stralsund on Friday morning (06/17/22). The articulated lorry had loaded a complete electric passenger ship and set off on a more than 1100-kilometer transfer journey to Zurich in Switzerland. The 22.50 meter long and 3.80 meter wide inland passenger ship is the first of three new builds of the same type that Ostseestaal and its subsidiary Ampereship are delivering to the Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft (ZSG).
Last year, the Stralsund specialist company won a Europe-wide tender for the construction of three electric passenger ships for Lake Zurich. The emission-free newbuilds will replace three diesel-powered ships that have been sailing on the Limmat, the river that leaves Lake Zurich and crosses the largest federal city of Zurich, for around 30 years. "With the ships for Switzerland, we are implementing an electric ship project for a foreign client for the first time," emphasizes Philipp Peuß, Marketing Manager at Ostseestaal and Ampereship GmbH.
The three electric passenger ships mean an extremely demanding task for the designers and shipbuilders from Ostseestaal and Ampereship. "Since the ships have to turn on the narrow Limmat river and navigate under deep bridges, very flat hulls had to be designed," explains Ingo Schillinger, the responsible manager at Ampereship. The new buildings, each with space for 61 ferry passengers, are more spacious and quiet than the previous models. The new ZSG ships are air-conditioned all year round and wheelchair accessible. In the future, they will not only be used for local passenger transport, but also for events on the water. The ships will be equipped with fully electric propulsion. This is designed so that the high-performance batteries are charged overnight on land using green electricity from the Zurich electricity company. A photovoltaic system on the ZSG company premises will also supply “green electricity” for the e-ships.
The company Ostseestaal has successfully developed the business area of ​​electric solar ships in recent years and has so far manufactured twelve of these special ships for various applications. Including two electro-solar passenger ferries for the island of Usedom and Rostock, which were delivered in 2021.
As a technology leader in 3D cold forming of sheet metal, Ostseestaal has been supplying international shipbuilding for many years. The specialist company also works for clients in aircraft construction, in the wind energy sector and tank industry, as well as on architectural projects. Ostseestaal currently has around 200 employees.
Data & facts about the passenger ship Zurich
| Length: | 22.50 meters |
| Broad: | 3.80 meters |
| draft: | 0.85 meters |
| Bridge clearance: | 1.55 meters |
| Service speed: | 12 km/h |
| Top speed: | 17 km/h |
| Number of passengers: | 61 |
| Battery capacity: | 384kWh |
| Drive: | 2 x 55 kW rudder propellers |