Norwegian company to deliver four passenger for the summer Olympic Games
Four electric ferries will be used to transport passengers around Paris during the 2024 Summer Olympics. The man behind the project is Bård Eker and his company HYKE – Hydrolift Smart City Ferries, writes Norway’s Båtmagasinet.
The first ferry is currently under construction at Hyrolift in Fredriksstad, south of Oslo, and will be delivered in January 2023. In total four ferries will be delivered for the Olympic Games, of which two will be delivered late 2023 or at the beginning of 2024 and the rest at summer 2024.
The value of the deal has not been confirmed, but Bård Eker told local daily Fredriksstads Blad: “It depends on which business model we chose together with our partner. It can be a combination of payment and leasing, but for us the order is the essential.”
Hydrolift Smart City Ferries says: “A transformation of the ferry industry is long overdue. Meet the Hyke solution: electric, autonomous ferries designed to provide a cleaner, smarter, more modern water-based answer to urban mobility.”
The 5.5-tonne ferries are 15m-long with a beam of 5.7m. Built in GRP, they have a maximum speed of 15kt and can carry up to 50 passengers.
The ferries will have 60kW-150kW engines and a battery capacity of 95kWh-285kWh.