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Electric boxship puts Cosco on road to decarbonisation

Fresh from its low D grading by Ship It Zero, Chinese carrier Cosco has announced the launch of a 700 teu zero emission containership.

Nick Savvides, Europe correspondent

August 4, 2023

1 Min Read
Cosco river sea ship Credit Cosco Shipping Development 2[86]
Photo: Cosco Shipping Development

The battery powered boxship is to be operated on the Yangtze River.

Built at Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry (Yangzhou) the 119.8m length ship has a beam of 23.6m and a draught of 5.5m. It will be powered by two 900kw electric motors, with energy from batteries, which will need to be swapped during its river voyages.

According to Cosco Shipping Development which launched the ship on 26 July the river/sea vessel will cut emissions by 32 tonnes per 24 operational hours, an estimated 2,362 tonnes annually.

Reportedly China Electric Ship Innovation Alliance, which was founded this year by Cosco Shipping and Cosco Shipping Development, will promote zero and low carbon shipping standards.

The alliance is supported by a number of other organisations including the China’s Department of Infrastructure, the Waterborne Transport Administration of the Ministry of Transport, the Maritime Safety Administration among others.

Cosco river sea ship Credit Cosco Shipping Development[70].jpg

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About the Author

Nick Savvides

Europe correspondent

Experienced journalist working online, in monthly magazines and daily news coverage. Nick Savvides began his journalistic career working as a freelance from his flat in central London, and has since worked in Athens, while also writing for some major publications including The Observer, The European, Daily Express and Thomson Reuters. 

Most recently Nick joined The Loadstar as the publication’s news editor to develop the profile of the publication, increase its readership and to build a team that will market, sell and report on supply chain issues and container shipping news. 

This was a similar brief to his time at ci-online, the online publication for Containerisation International and Container News. During his time at ci-online Nich developed a team of freelancers and full-time employees increasing its readership substantially. He then moved to International Freighting Weekly, a sister publication, IFW also focused on container shipping, rail and trucking and ports. Both publications were published by Informa. 

Following his spell at Informa Nick joined Reed’s chemical reporting team, ICIS, as the chemical tanker reporter. While at ICIS he also reported on the chemical industry and spent some time on the oil & gas desk. 

Nick has also worked for a time at Lloyd’s Register, which has an energy division, and his role was writing their technical magazine, before again becoming a journalist at The Naval Architect for the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. After eight successful years at RINA, he joined Fairplay, which published a fortnightly magazine and daily news on the website.

Nick's time at Fairplay saw him win the Seahorse Club Journalist of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year 2018 awards.

After Fairplay closed, Nick joined an online US start-up called FreightWaves. 

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