Echandia will supply its Core battery system for a 78-metre hybrid catamaran under construction at Incat Tasmania
Echandia has secured its first contract with Australian shipbuilder Incat Tasmania, supplying its Echandia Core battery system for a new 78-metre hybrid catamaran currently under construction.
The project marks a significant milestone for Echandia as it expands its presence in the global high-speed ferry market. The vessel has been designed to deliver maximum operational flexibility while reducing operating costs and supporting the transition away from fossil-fuel-powered propulsion.
Capable of carrying up to 650 passengers and 120 vehicles, the catamaran will achieve speeds of up to 28 knots and operate in fully electric, hybrid or generator-only modes. This enables zero-emission operation on shorter routes and within emission-control zones, while maintaining the range required for longer services.
Designed for a wide range of deployment scenarios, the vessel will be available for both bareboat and time charter arrangements from January 2027, offering operators a practical pathway towards lower-emission ferry operations.
“The vessel has been conceived as part of a series with flexibility and modularity as a high priority to ensure the vessels can serve many applications over its design life. We need a battery system that can handle both high power demands and frequent charging cycles across different routes. Echandia Core gives us exactly that.” -Stewart Wells, Chief Technical Officer at Incat
Built on LTO chemistry, which experiences minimal degradation, the system maintains stable performance throughout its lifecycle. This also enables capacity to be expanded later without meaningful performance differences between existing and new modules.
“A vessel built with this flexibility in mind needs a battery system that keeps future options open. Because LTO chemistry exhibits minimal degradation over time, capacity can later be expanded without a performance mismatch between old and new modules. Echandia Core is designed for that full lifecycle flexibility.” – Felix Backgård, Head of Technical Sales at Echandia
Echandia Core has been developed to lower one of the main barriers to wider LTO adoption in maritime applications: the initial investment. LTO is often highly competitive over the full lifecycle, thanks to long service life, minimal degradation and high operational reliability. But for many vessel projects, the upfront cost has remained a barrier. Echandia Core lowers that threshold. Compared with Echandia’s previous battery system, it delivers 30 percent lower upfront cost and 30 percent smaller footprint, while preserving the safety, lifetime and reliability that make LTO especially well suited for demanding marine operations.
