Hanwha Power wins approval for 1,700-TEU battery-powered container ship design

Hanwha Power said Friday it received approval in principle from the American Bureau of Shipping for its design of a 1,700-TEU battery-powered container ship. One TEU equals one 20-foot container unit.

The American Bureau of Shipping presented the certificate Thursday (local time) at the Maritime Hybrid, Electric & Hydrogen Fuel Cells Conference & Exhibition 2026 in Bergen, Norway. The three-day event runs Wednesday through Friday at the Scandic Hotel Bergen City.

The approved design is a conceptual design for a fully electric-propulsion container ship equipped with a large-capacity battery energy storage system of approximately 151 MWh. The vessel draws propulsion power from containerized batteries and connects to port charging infrastructure to operate with no direct carbon emissions during voyages.

The design also uses loadable containerized batteries to maximize energy space utilization and vessel performance.

Hanwha Power also said it has secured a basic design for a 1,000-TEU battery-powered container ship. The company plans to build out a lineup of electric-propulsion vessels capable of meeting diverse operating conditions and customer requirements across vessel types. It is also considering financial and operational models — including battery leasing and battery-as-a-service — for future commercialization.

Hwang Jong-gyu, executive vice president for technology solutions at Hanwha Power, said the ABS approval in principle marks "an important milestone in expanding Hanwha Power's eco-friendly vessel technology capabilities into the field of large-capacity battery-based fully electric propulsion." He added that the company will pursue the next-generation zero-carbon maritime transport market "through an integrated solution combining electric propulsion and containerized battery technology."