Cargo Ships Are Being Carried by Electric Currents at Long Last, The Quiet Revolution in Maritime Transport
In Jules Verne’s classic Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Captain Nemo’s futuristic submarine, the Nautilus, is battery-powered. Electric shipping has remained science fiction ever since. That might be about to change, though.
The Ning Yuan Dian Kun, an electric container ship capable of carrying 740 twenty-foot-equivalent units, was delivered earlier this month. Its ten containerized batteries hold as much charge as 380 Tesla Model 3s, and can either be swapped at port or charged from shore-based cables. This is not a prototype or a proof of concept; it is a working vessel entering commercial service.
The Scale Challenge
If you follow the shipping industry, 740 TEUs might seem pretty paltry. The size record is currently held by the MSC Irina, launched in 2023 and carrying 24,346 units, almost 33 times as many as the Ning Yuan Dian Kun. Until batteries compete on that scale, they can be safely ignored.
Well, not quite. While mega-container ships are the workhorses of global trade, essential for connecting major ports such as Shanghai, Rotterdam, Long Beach and Singapore, they’re not for every harbour. Their sheer size excludes them from the thousands of smaller docks that still take container deliveries. Much of the work of the biggest freight hubs comes not from unloading metal boxes to roads and railways, but sorting them onto smaller feeder vessels for delivery to lesser ports.
The Feeder Fleet
Many of these feeders are a lot more diminutive than you’d think. Just over half the global container fleet is below 3,000 units, the generally accepted upper limit for this kind of vessel. The average size of all the ships that docked at ports during 2023 is 3,618, according to the United Nations trade and development agency.
As with small passenger jets like the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, their use on short high-frequency routes means they’re arguably more important as the backbone of the global transport network compared to glitzy, larger vessels. The giants get the attention, but the feeders do the work.
That means they’re also significant contributors to marine pollution. In a typical year, about half of emissions from container shipping come from vessels carrying less than 8,000 TEUs, with about a fifth below 3,000, according to Xeneta, an intelligence platform for the global freight industry.
Beyond the Ning Yuan Dian Kun
That’s a long way above the Ning Yuan Dian Kun‘s 740 units. But other shipbuilders are moving in the same direction. Norway’s Eitzeng Group last year received $19 million from a government innovation fund to build two 850-box battery vessels. The 120 TEU Yara Birkeland, operated by Norwegian fertilizer company Yara International, has been plying the waters between Herøya and Breivik since 2022. Cosco Shipping’s Greenwater O1, working a river route from Shanghai to Nanjing, was launched in 2024 and can carry 700 units under electric power.
These are not isolated experiments; they are part of a growing trend. The technology is moving from novelty to practicality.
The Economics of Electrification
One 2024 study found that reductions in battery costs plus a carbon price would be sufficient to allow such battery vessels to start undercutting combustion engines on routes of less than 1,000km or even 2,500km. Beyond that, the weight of batteries still eats too deeply into cargo space to make the numbers work.
The economics are straightforward: fuel accounts for about half of voyage costs. Any technology that reduces fuel consumption has a direct line to the bottom line. If battery costs continue to fall—and they have been, dramatically, for years—the case for electrification only strengthens.
A Portfolio of Solutions
That does not mean there’s no role for batteries. Any route to decarbonizing shipping will involve multiple innovations working side-by-side. As much as 30% of ship fuel is burned to provide energy in port. Work on avoiding that pollution by plugging moored vessels into the grid is already underway in Europe, North America and China, where the Yangtze river, a major internal freight artery, has been working to electrify its docks for several years.
LNG, methanol and ammonia are starting to displace marine fuel oil and diesel, with about half of the industry’s order book capable of running on alternative fuels. These are not competitors to battery power; they are complements. Different routes, different vessels, different use cases will require different solutions.
The Emissions Challenge
Such initiatives are worthwhile. Shipping accounts for about 3% of global emissions, similar to all the aircraft in the sky. Despite the US government’s aggressive efforts to block or delay a global carbon price at the United Nations shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization, the industry itself wants to cut its climate footprint.
The industry’s interest is not purely altruistic. Fuel costs matter. Regulation is coming. Customers are demanding greener supply chains. The economics and the politics are aligned.
The Learning Curve
So far, batteries are only playing a small part in that picture—but as with trucking, a segment of the freight industry that was long thought immune to electrification is now giving way. The modular, container-housed power plants currently being tried out in China and Norway offer the perfect opportunity for companies to learn how to make that work, and scale quickly if the economics make sense.
With each passing year, batteries get cheaper, lighter and more powerful. You’d be wrong to underestimate their potential to change the world.
Conclusion: The Quiet Revolution
The electrification of shipping will not happen overnight. The Ning Yuan Dian Kun is not going to replace the MSC Irina anytime soon. But it doesn’t have to. The feeder fleet, the short-haul routes, the river traffic—these are where battery power can make an immediate difference.
And as the technology improves, as batteries get better and costs fall, the range of viable applications will expand. What starts with 740 TEU vessels today could extend to 3,000 TEU vessels tomorrow, and beyond.
The Nautilus was science fiction. Electric shipping is becoming science fact.
Q&A: Unpacking the Electric Shipping Revolution
Q1: What is the Ning Yuan Dian Kun and why is it significant?
The Ning Yuan Dian Kun is an electric container ship capable of carrying 740 TEUs, delivered in early 2026. Its ten containerized batteries hold as much charge as 380 Tesla Model 3s, and can be swapped at port or charged from shore. While dwarfed by mega-ships (the largest carry 24,346 TEUs), it demonstrates that electric propulsion is now commercially viable for smaller vessels.
Q2: Why focus on smaller vessels when mega-ships dominate attention?
Mega-ships connect major ports, but the global fleet is dominated by smaller vessels. Just over half the global container fleet is below 3,000 TEUs. The average ship docking in 2023 carried 3,618 TEUs. These smaller vessels are the backbone of the transport network, moving containers from major hubs to thousands of smaller ports, and account for about half of container shipping emissions.
Q3: What other electric vessels are in operation or development?
Norway’s Eitzeng Group is building two 850-box battery vessels with government funding. The 120 TEU Yara Birkeland has been operating in Norwegian waters since 2022. Cosco’s Greenwater O1, launched in 2024, works the Shanghai-Nanjing river route carrying 700 units under electric power. These demonstrate growing industry momentum beyond isolated experiments.
Q4: What are the economics of electric shipping?
Fuel accounts for about half of voyage costs, so fuel savings directly improve profitability. One 2024 study found that falling battery costs plus a carbon price would allow battery vessels to undercut combustion engines on routes under 1,000km (or even 2,500km). Beyond that distance, battery weight still eats too deeply into cargo space, but the economic case strengthens as batteries improve.
Q5: How significant is shipping’s climate impact?
Shipping accounts for about 3% of global emissions—similar to all aviation. Despite US efforts to block global carbon pricing at the IMO, the industry itself wants to cut emissions because fuel costs matter, regulation is coming, and customers demand greener supply chains. Multiple solutions will work together: batteries for short routes, shore power for ports, and alternative fuels (LNG, methanol, ammonia) for longer voyages.
