Switch Launches New Battery Protection for Electric Ships

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday February 3, 2026

Electric product supplier The Switch has introduced a new electronic current limiter (ECL) designed to protect DC power systems on hybrid and electric vessels.

As batteries are increasingly used for propulsion and power, faults on the battery side can quickly affect the whole ship, it said in an email statement on Tuesday.

If protection is too slow, a fault can pull down voltage across the DC system, causing healthy equipment to trip or shut down.

The ECL is installed between the battery and the DC link. It reacts in microseconds to limit fault current before it spreads, helping keep voltage stable and allowing other equipment to continue operating.

“DC systems don’t give you time to react,” Paul Atherton, Product Line Director at The Switch, said.

“Protection has to act immediately,” he added.

The ECL adds to the company’s existing DC protection technologies by focusing specifically on battery-related faults, especially where batteries are connected directly to the DC system.

By allowing direct battery connections, the ECL also supports simpler system designs with fewer components, improving efficiency and helping vessels avoid wider power disruptions during faults.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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