EMEA News
Austal Australasia Wins $170 Million Order for Swedish Hydrogen-Ready Ferry
Austal Australasia has secured an order worth AUD 265-275 million ($167-174 million) from Swedish ferry operator Gotlandsbolaget for the construction of a hydrogen-ready ferry.
The vessel will be the first high-speed craft to integrate both gas and steam turbines in its propulsion system, Austal Australasia said in a statement on its website on Thursday.
The high-speed catamaran will be constructed at Austal’s Philippines shipyard.
A hydrogen-ready vessel is designed for future retrofitting, enabling it to operate on hydrogen once the shipowner determines that hydrogen bunker supply and infrastructure are sufficiently available.
“Thanks to the great collaboration between Gotland Tech Development and Austal, we can now move forward in supplementing our existing fleet of larger passenger and cargo vessels with a high-speed, multi fuel-catamaran, which is also hydrogen-ready,” Håkan Johansson, CEO at Gotlandsbolaget, said in the statement.
The construction of the vessel will begin next year, with delivery scheduled for mid-2028.
Once delivered, it will deployed on the ferry route between Gotland Island and mainland Sweden.
