Alba, France’s first hydrogen-electric powered fishing training vessel, has been inaugurated by LPMA: Maritime and Aquaculture Professional School of Bastia. It was designed by European naval architecture and marine engineering company Mauric.
Mauric was also technical coordinator of the project.
Explaining the background to the project, Mauric said that LPMA of Bastia was awarded a €4 million budget for the development and construction of a zero-emission vessel through the France 2030 Recovery Plan. In April 2021, it published a Call for Applications for the design and construction of a 100% hydrogen-electric powered fishing training vessel.
Mauric, which has designed numerous Mediterranean fishing vessels, gathered a consortium with key players in the hydrogen sector and ecological transition, such as Alternative Energies, CN Gatto Shipyard and EODev, supplier of hydrogen fuel cell-based REXH2 Range Extenders, to respond to the tender.
In February 2022, the consortium and its project for a composite vessel under 20 metres, equipped with two 70kW REXH2 Range Extenders was selected by the LPMA.
Hydrodynamic optimisation
Mauric highlighted that the design of a hydrogen power-propulsion system vessel requires the use of the Alternative Design methodology, incorporating multiple risk analyses (HAZID) to define the hydrogen system architecture, its integration into the vessel and consequently, particularly for a vessel under 20 metres, the general vessel architecture.
It added that designing a zero-emission vessel means first designing an energy-efficient vessel. To achieve this, Mauric’s hydrodynamic optimisations of the vessel’s hull plan, performed through CFD calculations on its 192-core computer, enabled the development of an efficient hull plan. Mauric also worked on optimising the composite structure, significantly reducing the vessel’s weight. The result was a maximum speed of 13 knots instead of the required 12 knots and an 11-hour autonomy at 10 knots, nearly 10% better than the LPMA’s required performance.
Dedicated to training
Alba has been specifically designed to include fishing training capabilities such as longline and seine techniques. It can accommodate up to 12 students and 2 instructors (crew).
With an overall length of 19.95 metres, the maximum length allowed by the LPMA specifications, and a beam of 5.6 metres, Alba features a large deck area whose layout was defined in close consultation with the LPMA teaching staff. The vessel is fitted with removable winches and tackles for longline or seine fishing, with configuration changes possible within a few hours.
Space is reserved aft for a boat or fishing winch. Two hydraulic cranes complete the deck equipment.
The design ensures all areas of the vessel are accessible to multiple persons simultaneously, enabling fluid teaching, particularly in the wheelhouse for navigation and manoeuvring instruction, as well as in the fuel cell room where students and teachers can stand upright.
“This project demonstrates our ability to technically coordinate major innovations, from CFD hull optimisation to the integration of state-of-the-art energy systems,” said Guillaume Rocolle, Naval Architect and Project Manager at Mauric.
18 months construction
Following validation of the general design, Mauric completed all detailed engineering studies, particularly the interface studies between the H2 system (FCs, storage system and H2 network) and the vessel, specifically addressing safety aspects, fire prevention and fighting, ATEX zoning, in close collaboration with BV and consortium members.
In January 2024, the two 70kW EODEV REXH2 Range Extenders were integrated into the vessel, along with two 178kWh battery packs.
The vessel features fully redundant power-propulsion architecture with two propulsion lines, two 200kW electric propulsion motors, two independent battery packs and two independent REXH2s powered by nine bottles of hydrogen compressed at 350 bars, totalling over 75kg of hydrogen.
The vessel’s outfitting was completed in spring 2024, culminating in its launch in July at the CN Gatto shipyard in Martigues, France. Dockside and sea trials then began for performance validation and regulatory compliance of the vessel and its equipment.
After several sea trials to validate all vessel operating, Alba reached its home port of Bastia, in Corsica on 7 November 2024.
“This project represents a crucial milestone for Mauric and our partners, but also for the entire French hydrogen sector, as Alba is not merely ‘H2-ready’. She is indeed the first French professional vessel operating exclusively on hydrogen and batteries. With this project, we demonstrate that hydrogen can be a viable technical solution for certain vessel profiles, that the technology is ready, and that France possesses the expertise to design and build professional H2 vessels,” said Fabrice Ghozlan, Sales and Business Development Director at Mauric.
