Black Marlin Arrives in Hobart to Collect World’s Largest Electric Ferry

The heavy lift ship Black Marlin anchored in Port Phillip Bay on July 22, coming from Durban. The crossing took longer than expected. Heavy swells across the Great Australian Bight held up the 218-metre ship before it reached Bass Strait and made its way toward Hobart.

The reason for the journey: Incat's Hull 096, a 130-metre battery-electric catamaran called China Zorrilla. Built by the Hobart shipyard Incat for the Argentine-Uruguayan ferry operator Buquebus, China Zorrilla is the largest battery-powered ship in the world. It runs passengers and vehicles across the Rio de la Plata between Buenos Aires and Colonia.

Getting a 130-metre catamaran from Tasmania to South America is not straightforward. Black Marlin is a float-on/float-off ship. It partially submerges its main deck, allows the cargo to float over, then pumps out ballast water until the ship rises and the ferry rests on purpose-built blocks aboard. The operation needs a calm sheltered berth with enough depth.

Black Marlin is 42 metres wide. According to Tasmania's port authority schedule, the ship and China Zorrilla are listed to depart Hobart on August 1.