Zeabuz, the ferries of the future will be autonomous and ecological.
Smart, autonomous, ecological, without emissions... These small ferries that will soon cross the waters of the Norwegian city of Trondheim have everything to succeed in the future.
The climate crisis is inviting companies to reinvent new types of transport that are much more sustainable and environmentally responsible. Gone should be all those ships or ferries that dirty our seas, ports and oceans . That is the motto of the Zeabuz company that has proposed a new type of ferry for urban cities that will be launched next year.
The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) launched the project in 2018 as a greener alternative in the port channel of Trondheim . The prototype was a success and NTNU commercialized their research, forming Zeabuz in 2019. But, this ferry is just one part of a larger plan to explore sustainable transportation on the waterways.
And it won't just be limited to Norway, Zeabuz wants to sell ferries to other cities in Europe or beyond on demand. “Our ferries are world leaders.** They are autonomous and allow safe maneuvering between other ships**, docking at the pier on their own and carrying passengers safely,” says Susanne Jäschke, CEO of Zeabuz.
A way to recover the waterways as communication channels.
THE PROJECT IN THE PORT OF TRONDHEIM
One of the fundamental pieces of Zeabuz, as we said, is to recover the waterways as transporters of passengers between cities . That is, in favor of cars. In fact, previously it was the most common and fastest form of transport , above all, between coastal towns and cities.
Norway is already a pioneer in this type of electric ferries , but with Zeabuz it goes a step further to make ferries more profitable in energy terms. Since they have no captain or crew they are only allowed to carry 12 passengers , but that does not mean that they are not safe or that there is no one controlling that they work correctly.
Zeabuz rides will work as follows.** They will be free of charge and passengers will be able to call them from the various port stops via a button**. Upon arrival it will load passengers and bikes on both sides of the pier (this time is estimated at 1 minute) thus saving travelers a 15 minute walk from side to side.
Other Norwegian cities, such as Tønsberg, Sandefjord and Haugesund, have expressed interest in the Zeabuz ships. We will have to wait if we will see them in the main European capitals in the coming years.
A project for the future.