DRIFT Energy has been awarded an Approval in Principle (AiP) certificate by class society RINA for an energy-harvesting ship design, paving the way for the development and construction of its first ‘net-positive’ vessel.
This is thought to be the first AiP issued for an energy-harvesting ship with the goal of generating and delivering clean power at sea.
The proposed vessels are designed to harness deep ocean wind to produce energy, utilising hydro-kinetic turbines under the hull to generate electricity that is subsequently converted via electrolysis into green hydrogen fuel and stored on board. This energy could then be delivered directly to ports and other demand centres.
To optimise tracking, the ships will utilise an Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled routing technology named GOLDILOCKS to locate and follow ideal weather patterns.
“Our ships are set to play a pivotal role in the global energy transition, and I am delighted that DRIFT is defining the framework that such innovative vessels will be evaluated against in the future,” said Ben Medland, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at DRIFT Energy.
“The AiP validates the vessel’s feasibility from a class perspective and is a key step towards full plan approval. We have collaborated closely with the expert team at RINA to get to this point, and I am proud of the focused effort from DRIFT’s design team and the wider DRIFT crew that has enabled us to achieve this major milestone.”
RINA says that it assessed the vessel design through its risk-based framework to ensure the system achieves safety levels equivalent to established marine industry standards while introducing new approaches to maritime energy generation and transport.
“Through close technical collaboration with DRIFT Energy, RINA has assessed a novel design that introduces new approaches to the generation and transport of clean energy at sea, while addressing classification and safety requirements from the earliest stages of development,” said Patrizio Di Francesco, North Europe Special Projects Business Development Manager and Principal Engineer at RINA.
DRIFT Energy plans to launch its first ship during 2027, with subsequent plans to move into series production to fulfil an active orderbook of more than 30 vessels.
