The world’s largest battery-powered electric ferry will leave Australia aboard an even larger vessel following a complex hauling operation.
Ferry Hull 096, dubbed China Zorrilla after the Uruguayan actor, was completed in May 2025 by Hobart ship builder Incat.
It can transport up to 2100 passengers and more than 200 vehicles and will service a route between Uruguay and Argentina.
On Friday, it was successfully loaded aboard the 217m-long and 42m-wide heavy-lift ship Black Marlin in Hobart’s River Derwent.
The operation, in which the Black Marlin became semi-submerged for Hull 096 to move onto its deck, was dubbed one of the most complex in Tasmania’s maritime history.
“This is an extraordinary moment, not just for Incat but for the future of sustainable maritime transport,” Incat chairman Robert Clifford said.
“For years we’ve watched this vessel evolve from an idea into reality, and today we’ve reached another incredible milestone in the most significant project in Incat’s history.”
Hull 096, which is 130m long, features the largest retail shopping space on any ferry, spanning 2300sq m.
It carries a 40-megawatt energy storage system and will charge via ports on each side of the River Pate in South America.
Mr Clifford described the vessel as a trailblazer in the shift to more environmentally friendly ferries and said Incat had more electric vessels in the works.
“It demonstrates … the future of high-speed, large-capacity ferry transport is here,” he said.
“We are incredibly proud that this technology has been designed and built in Tasmania and that it will soon be operating on one of the world’s busiest ferry routes.”
Hull 096 will remain aboard Black Marlin while final sea fastening and operational preparations are completed ahead of its departure from Hobart in coming days.
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