Green Navy, a French enterprise, recently debuted ‘Prometeo,’ Europe’s inaugural electro-hydrogen powered catamaran designed for both passenger and freight services, at the NAVEXPO maritime innovation event in Brittany’s Port of Lorient. The event took place over May 29, 30, and 31. During the conference, the company also presented developments in the design and conceptual inspiration of the vessel.
“We have been actively promoting the development of our clean, green and 100% viable passenger catamaran for several months now” explains Charles Cardi, CEO – Green Navy. “It is testimony to the pioneering design and its commercial applications that we are seeing great support from financial institutions, local authorities in Brittany, and shipowners keen to explore the potential and flexibility that underpin the programme. NAVEXPO gave us the opportunity to meet with hundreds of partners, suppliers, and professional operators – there was a real buzz and the relevance of our prototype has been confirmed on numerous occasions.”
The technical feasibility of electro-hydrogen propulsion systems is well proven but it is not enough just to work in theory. Green Navy is collaborating with SECO Marine (the marine division of the FETIS Group, based in Nantes, specialising in the energy transition of propulsion) and working to develop safe, reliable, practical, and economically viable solutions.
“Hydrogen is a very promising energy vector for a number of marine applications,” says David Bartoletti, General manager of SECO Marine. “It provides a real answer to the decarbonisation of vessels like PROMETEO where the size, power and operational needs make it ideal for hydrogen adoption.”
The next steps for Green Navy are exciting. It is planned that the twin hulls will soon be transported from the Merré shipyard in Nort-sur-Erdre, to CIB in Brest where the build will continue, and the Company will carry out its second Regional Safety Commission with the French Ship Safety Centre of Brest.
“At the same time our discussions continue with a number of ship owners and local regions in Brittany and the South of France as the launch of this first globally important vessel in Spring 2025 moves ever closer” adds Cardi. “Our experience at NAVEXPO confirms that major operators want to be at the forefront of a new future in hard-working, low carbon, low noise, low fume, commercially attractive transport.”