The construction of the Neo Orbis, a pilot ship for the H2Ships project, has officially begun with the holding of its keel laying ceremony at Next Generation Shipyards, a Dutch shipbuilding company. This marks the start of the ship's construction and its journey to becoming the first in the world to sail using hydrogen in solid form as an energy carrier.
H2Ships is an Interreg North-West Europe project that aims to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of hydrogen bunkering and propulsion for shipping. The project partners aim to identify the conditions for successful market entry for this technology.
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The Neo Orbis, which stands for “New World,” will be completely emission-free and will serve as the flagship for the Port of Amsterdam, with trial sailing scheduled to start in June 2023. The vessel's design was created by the Dutch engineering consultant Wijk Yacht Creations and hydrogen installation design by H2 CIF.
Next Generation Shipyards was contracted last summer to build the ship and the construction is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2023. The Neo Orbis will enter service in 2024 and will serve as a scale-up for inland shipping, shortsea, dredging, offshore and possibly also patrol vessels and naval vessels. The Port of Amsterdam has already begun studies into this.
