Damen Group’s inland vessel subsidiary Concordia Damen has signed what it claims is a historic contract with Netherlands vessel operator Lenten Scheepvaart. The contract, signed on 18 March by Harm Lenten and Concordia Damen CEO Chris Kornet, is for the construction of the first* ever inland waterway vessel to run on hydrogen.

The vessel, to be named Antonie, will be 135m long and boasts a revolutionary fuel cell propulsion. She will be used to transport salt between Delfzijl in the north of the Netherlands to Botlek in the Port of Rotterdam for Nouryon – a leading global chemical supplier.

Concordia Damen CEO Chris Kornet said of the contract, “At Concordia Damen we have always been at the forefront of bringing increased sustainability to our industry. Greening the inland shipping sector is something which we feel passionate about and we will continue to work towards this goal. I believe there will not be one single way to reduce emissions in our sector, but a number of approaches. Hydrogen is likely to play an important role in the achievement of zero emissions in inland shipping. Lenten Scheepvaart are to be commended for taking this leading role.”

Lenten Scheepvaart has received a subsidy for the construction of the vessel to the value of €4 million. The subsidy, from the Netherlands Governmental department of Infrastructure and Water Management, aims to stimulate the development the use of hydrogen as a fuel on the path towards zero emissions inland shipping. Likewise, the vessel and its operation will benefit from the subsidised hydrogen bunker station in Delfzijl.

*The claim to be the first ever inland vessel to run on hydrogen may be disputed by those involved in a retrofit project announced some two weeks before the contract for Antonie was inked. Details of that vessel were reported by ShipInsight here.