Color Line has celebrated the start of block assembly on its new Color Hybrid vessel, the largest plug-in hybrid vessel to date, combining diesel engines and battery power.

The ferry, which will sail between Sandefjord, Norway, and Strømstad, Sweden, will be 160 meters long and have capacity for 2,000 passengers and 500 cars.

Norway’s Color Line, which also runs large cruise ferries between Norway and Germany in addition to other ferries, contracted the newbuild with Ulstein Yard, which is assembling the hull at the Crist shipyard in Gdydnia, Poland, before towing her to Ullsteinvik in Norway in October for completion.

The Color Hybrid, which is slated to enter service in 2019, will sail into the port of Sandefjord under battery power and will plug into shorepower while alongside, thus having zero air  and extremely low sound emissions in the port and harbor area.

The hydroelectric shorepower will not only support ship’s services while in port but will also recharge the batteries. Alternatively, the batteries can be recharged from the engines while at sea.

Batteries will be used to power the ship 3.2 nautical miles into port and out again, after which a diesel powerplant takes over, running on MGO. With the diesel plant and the batteries, the new ferry features combined diesel-mechanical and diesel-electric propulsion.

The 5MWh batteries can propel the ship up to 15 knots. Siemens is the supplier of the batteries and electric systems.