A collaboration between Holland Shipyards Group, Roboat, 10XL, Transmare♻CirQlair and Sequana Développement, a Paris-headquartered company operating a fleet of river boats, is giving shape to a new kind of waterborne transport. The companies cooperated on an entry for a competition launched by Voies Navigables de France, the country’s navigation authority responsible for the management of the majority of France's inland waterways network. The competition consisted of a nation-wide call for projects in the field of autonomous passenger boats, designed to showcase innovation during the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympic Games. The partners' proposal, which involved, creating the world’s largest printed autonomous ferry became one of the three winning entries selected.
Their submission, a vessel that will ferry passengers across the Seine next summer, measures 9m by 3.90 m and combines an innovative design with sustainability. The craft features an autonomy system, electric propulsion, and a 3D printed hull made of recycled material. Mooring and charging will happen automatically. It will have a capacity for up to 35 people and achieve Level 4 automation.
Roboat, a young Amsterdam-based start-up that builds autonomy systems for inland waterway vessels is supplying the autonomy system, while Holland Shipyards Group is closely collaborating with 10XL, an XL hybrid manufacturing service using end-of-life, post consumer waste recycled plastics, to 3D print the ferry. Both 10XL and Holland Shipyards Group are located in Hardinxveld-Giessendam - a shipbuilding industry hub in the Netherlands. 10XL’s ‘reboot’ philosophy reflects its striving to reconfigure boat-building practices to enable circular production. The mission of the company is to 'design, engineer, and build' circular hulls that 'serve as the foundation for electrical boats, fully embracing eco-friendly solutions’, according to the company’s founders.
Printing commenced in April, using materials sourced from Transmare♻CirQlair, in Rotterdam. Collaborative partners since 2018, 10XL and Henk Jan Aarsen, the founder of 10XL, Transmare♻CirQlair, had previously developed their r-UltraMarathon3D ( r-UMD3D) material, which proved to more than meet the specifications for the ferry.
Made from PCW obtained through a reliable supply chain - namely, through Umincorp Recycling's new Rotterdam plant - r-UM3D offers outstanding mechanical properties, excellent process capabilities, and ‘unsurpassed circularity’, said Aarsen. The material has been through rigorous quality and performance assessments by multiple institutes and 3D printing companies confirming the mechanical properties, processing properties, and flame retardancy of the material. 10XL has already integrated r-UM3D into its production processes, using it to create boats, bridges, and street furniture. The new material has been hailed as a ‘game-changer’ in the additive manufacturing industry, the company said.
For Leendert Hoogendoorn, the director of Holland Shipyards Group, the collaboration with 10XL has been a wholly new experience.
“The 3D print build method opens up a new exciting chapter in shipbuilding,” he said.
Moreover, the low-emission electrically powered autonomous ferry also provides a sustainable solution for reducing city congestion and emissions and help cities make better use of the waterways.
“Autonomous ferries will create new connections over existing waterways in cities worldwide”, said Ynse Deinema, the CEO of Roboat.
The ferry will be deployed on the Seine river in the summer of 2024, at a location that has not yet been announced, in the vicinity of the major sporting events.