Batteries have become a practical part of maritime decarbonization. They are used on ferries, harbor craft, tugs, offshore support vessels, crew transfer vessels, various types of remotely operated vessels, and hybrid ships
Batteries have become a practical part of maritime decarbonization. They are used on ferries, harbor craft, tugs, offshore support vessels, crew transfer vessels, various types of remotely operated vessels, and hybrid ships to reduce fuel burn, provide spinning reserve, support dynamic positioning, enable peak shaving, and allow zero-emission operation in port. As of mid-2026, 156 different maritime battery systems from 118 manufacturing companies are commercially available.
Notably, systems are becoming more energy dense, lighter and more compact, supporting wider maritime adoption – for a 288.26 m³ energy storage system (ESS), weight intensity has fallen from around 13 t/MWh for a 2016 NMC system to 9.25 t/MWh for a 2019 LFP system and 5.9 t/MWh for a 2024 NMC system. Today, 1392 battery-powered vessels are in operation, 466 on order (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Li-ion battery and critical mineral prices: five-year trend.
Source: Intelatus Global Partners’ interpretation of DNV Veracity data.
However, the business case extends beyond vessel design and charging infrastructure to include the security of battery supply chains, which depend on battery chemistry and, ultimately, on critical minerals.
The term is often misunderstood. “Critical minerals” is not a geological category but a strategic definition. A material becomes “critical” when
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