Hybrid Ferries Coming to Lower Manhattan, But Will Take an Extra Year to Arrive
NY Waterway is moving full ahead with a plan to convert four of its vessels to diesel-electric hybrid propulsion, but needs 12 months more than originally planned to launch the first eco-friendly ferries.
The company, which operates between the Brookfield Ferry Terminal and various cities in New Jersey, initially began sketching out ideas for low-emissions, low-noise vessels “back in 2017,” recalled Captain Alan Warren, NY Waterway’s vice president for ferry operations and maintenance. He and his colleague Donald Liloia, NY Waterway’s senior vice president of facilities and business development, were interviewed by the Broadsheet yesterday. “That’s when we first became aware of new, reliable hybridization technology that was coming into service. We hired a naval architect and did a conceptual study, which concluded that this was workable.”
Working with BAE systems on a diesel-electric propulsion system, which they observed in operation aboard a California sightseeing ferry in 2020, “we decided to apply for federal funding that is available to convert transportation infrastructure to low-carbon power,” said Mr Liloia.
In partnership with NJ Transit, “we applied in 2021 and 2022, and were awarded grants totaling $13 million to convert four vessels and build two charging stations,” at the Hoboken Ferry Terminal, he said. These funds became available in late 2022 and early the following year.
“We’re going to focus on our more conventional boats, larger mono-hulled vessels used on Hoboken-to-Battery Park City route,” Mr. Liloia noted. “When these arrive on the New York side, they will be running entirely on batteries, which will make them completely silent in terms of engine noise, although there will still be some prop wash. But the noise reduction will be significant.”
Even more transformative, predicted Captain Warren, “will be the reduction in emissions. When these boats first roll out, we plan to use the diesel engines for about six minutes in the middle of the Hudson, but then go to all-electric power while we are at the docks on either side of the River. Even when we are using those engines, however, they will be fueled by renewable diesel, which comes from plants and recycled oils. This been available on West Coast for several years, but our local supplier is now converting tanks in New Jersey to meet our needs. That will cut our emissions by almost 75 percent.”
“Our ultimate goal is zero emissions,” added Mr. Liloia. “We’ll get there pretty quickly, because we plan to eliminate the six-minute use of the diesel engines in the middle of the river soon after launching the hybrid ferries. At that point, the diesel will serve only as an emergency backup and redundant source of power.”
Captain Warren said, “our original plan was to stick with that six-minute interval of diesel in the middle third of each trip, but battery technology has evolved and improved so much in the last few years that we now plan to run for 80 minutes at a time on electric, which is the equivalent of four round trips, then charge for eight minutes at the dockside in Hoboken. After that, each vessel is good for another four round trips. That means we’ve moved from a hybrid plan to a vision for a fleet that is powered entirely by electricity.”
He added, “this process has been driven largely by years of dialogue with residents who live near our terminal in Battery Park City, who have been asking for less noise and lower emissions.”
The original goal was to have the first hybrid boats in service by the summer of this year. “Because this is a new technology, it takes a long time to satisfy regulators that it is reliable and safe,” Captain Warren explained. “Our new timeline is to solicit bids on the conversion work later this year or early in 2025, and have the first boats in service by the fourth quarter of next year.”
Looking to the future, Mr. Liloia said, “we currently have funding for just four boats, but our total fleet is 14 vessels, and our eventual goal is to convert all of these. We’re applying again this year, for new funding to convert the other ten ferries. We hope to move all of our vessels over to electric propulsion by 2035.”
“We’re also developing plans to get into the freight ferry business to bring packages into Lower Manhattan,” said Captain Warren. “Each one of our regular vessels can carry the equivalent of two tractor trailer loads of freight.”
This initiative builds on a plan recently announced by Mayor Eric Adams to establish at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport (located on the East River waterfront at Pier 6, near the intersection of Broad and South Streets) a logistics center for freight deliveries brought to the community by ferry, which would then be handed off for delivery via cargo bikes.
“This is a very real effort, not theoretical,” Mr. Liloia said of the ferry electrification project. “It is based on a proven technology, has been fully funded, and is ready to start.”
“The only thing likely to change,” Captain Warren said, “is that this technology is getting better every year. Batteries are moving ahead by huge leaps. So our goals may get even more ambitious.”