The hull of the first ever inland hydrogen vessel is on her way from Shanghai, ready for outfitting in The Netherlands.

The vessel, named ‘Antonie’, will be 135 metres long, feature a cargo capacity of 3,700 tons and boast a revolutionary fuel cell propulsion.

She will be used to transport salt between Delfzijl in the north of the Netherlands to Botlek in the Port of Rotterdam for Nobian – a leading global chemical supplier.

Concordia Damen CEO Chris Kornet said of the contract, “At Concordia Damen we have always been at the forefront of bringing increased sustainability to our industry. Greening the inland shipping sector is something which we feel passionate about and we will continue to work towards this goal. I believe there will not be one single way to reduce emissions in our sector, but a number of approaches. Hydrogen is likely to play an important role in the achievement of zero emissions in inland shipping. Lenten Scheepvaart are to be commended for taking this leading role.”

Lenten Scheepvaart has received a subsidy for the construction of the vessel to the value of 4 million euros. The subsidy, from the Netherlands Governmental department of Infrastructure and Water Management, aims to stimulate the development the use of hydrogen as a fuel on the path towards zero emissions inland shipping.

Likewise, the vessel and its operation will benefit from the subsidised hydrogen bunker station in Delfzijl.

Concordia Damen has a long track record in the development of sustainable vessel technology for the inland shipping sector, including a number of hybrid propulsion vessels.