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I think long distance might be solvable too with a little out of the box thinking. Imagine ships could swap out batteries every few hundred miles. Think simple

I think long distance might be solvable too with a little out of the box thinking. Imagine ships could swap out batteries every few hundred miles. Think simple container batteries and some off shore wind park with facilities for charging container batteries and a stash of charged batteries. Floating off shore wind is now possible as well. Containers might be a bit tedious for this. So, why not use autonomous tug boats and barges. The tug boats simply pull the load between charging stations. When they are empty they head for a charger and a full one takes over. This could even work with existing ships, which are commonly maneuvered around harbors using tug boats already. Probably more than a few engineering challenges lurking here but it gets us out of the mindset that ships must be able to go for thousands of nautical miles without stopping for charging. I could see that working for a lot of coastal shipping routes.

pjc50 2y ago
Container batteries already seem to be a thing: https://www.offshore-energy.biz/worlds-first-700-teu-pure-battery-powered-containerships-are-here/ https://www.offshore-energy.biz/worlds-first-700-teu-pure-ba... .. but again for relatively short distances. You do not want to have relatively unskilled personnel attempting swaps at sea, or in bad weather (which is also very dangerous for ships under tow). The China-EU distance is about 24,000km. I don't think more than one or two charging/swap stops are feasible on that route, so you're going to need something with 10,000km range at the very least.
- bluGill 2y ago
  China-EU can follow the coast. It isn't unreasonable to just stop at a port every night. You can put the crew up in a hotel thus saving needing beds for everyone, and they can enjoy whatever meals they want. This will make the trip take 3x longer though, which is a very significant disadvantage, but if electric energy is enough cheaper they will go for it. Most things going via sea are not time sensitive, but the crew still needs to be paid along with the ship mortgage. China-US could do the same, but the trip is about 10x longer (I didn't bother to look this up) - even with free electric I'm not sure if it is worth it. There are islands like Hawaii where the above is not possible though so we still need something else.
  - leoedin 2y ago
    > It isn't unreasonable to just stop at a port every night Is it? How many more deep water ports would be needed if every ship had to stop every night? What about if you're passing hostile or undeveloped countries? What about when you need to cross the Pacific or Atlantic? Cargo ships move at maybe 15mph - there's definitely huge parts of the world that don't have a well equipped deep water port every 360 miles. Even major western countries only have a handful of major ports.
    - bluGill 2y ago
      I didn't say it was easy. Undeveloped countries would mostly welcome a chance for someone else to develop energy and port infrastructure. Hostile is a different issue, but you can bypass them as needed. (ships already pass by hostile countries)
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > It isn't unreasonable to just stop at a port every night You’re describing coaling stations [1]. They worked in the era of empires (one government controls the coaling network) and no other options. They’re uncompetitive today. Any energy system requiring them will not be competitive against direct-sail systems. You’re paying for the crew and ship’s deterioration with every delay. [1] https://www.britannica.com/topic/coaling-station https://www.britannica.com/topic/coaling-station

pjc50 2y ago

Container batteries already seem to be a thing: https://www.offshore-energy.biz/worlds-first-700-teu-pure-battery-powered-containerships-are-here/ https://www.offshore-energy.biz/worlds-first-700-teu-pure-ba... .. but again for relatively short distances. You do not want to have relatively unskilled personnel attempting swaps at sea, or in bad weather (which is also very dangerous for ships under tow). The China-EU distance is about 24,000km. I don't think more than one or two charging/swap stops are feasible on that route, so you're going to need something with 10,000km range at the very least.

bluGill 2y ago
China-EU can follow the coast. It isn't unreasonable to just stop at a port every night. You can put the crew up in a hotel thus saving needing beds for everyone, and they can enjoy whatever meals they want. This will make the trip take 3x longer though, which is a very significant disadvantage, but if electric energy is enough cheaper they will go for it. Most things going via sea are not time sensitive, but the crew still needs to be paid along with the ship mortgage. China-US could do the same, but the trip is about 10x longer (I didn't bother to look this up) - even with free electric I'm not sure if it is worth it. There are islands like Hawaii where the above is not possible though so we still need something else.
- leoedin 2y ago
  > It isn't unreasonable to just stop at a port every night Is it? How many more deep water ports would be needed if every ship had to stop every night? What about if you're passing hostile or undeveloped countries? What about when you need to cross the Pacific or Atlantic? Cargo ships move at maybe 15mph - there's definitely huge parts of the world that don't have a well equipped deep water port every 360 miles. Even major western countries only have a handful of major ports.
  - bluGill 2y ago
    I didn't say it was easy. Undeveloped countries would mostly welcome a chance for someone else to develop energy and port infrastructure. Hostile is a different issue, but you can bypass them as needed. (ships already pass by hostile countries)
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > It isn't unreasonable to just stop at a port every night You’re describing coaling stations [1]. They worked in the era of empires (one government controls the coaling network) and no other options. They’re uncompetitive today. Any energy system requiring them will not be competitive against direct-sail systems. You’re paying for the crew and ship’s deterioration with every delay. [1] https://www.britannica.com/topic/coaling-station https://www.britannica.com/topic/coaling-station