On 25 May, Dutch shipping company Future Proof Shipping (FPS) officially launched the first hydrogen-powered zero-emissions inland container ship, H2 Barge 1, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, according to the company's release. Earlier in the week, Nike introduced the H2 Barge 1 at its European Logistics Campus in Laakdal, Belgium. As part of its journey toward a zero carbon and zero waste future, Nike is partnering with Future Proof Shipping (FPS) and BCTN Network of Inland Terminals, to accelerate zero-emission shipping.
Future Proof Shipping’s zero-emissions 110m x 11.45m inland containership, H2 Barge 1 is chartered by BCTN on behalf of Nike EMEA. The vessel, expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2000 tonnes of CO2e per year, will sail between Rotterdam and BCTN’s inland terminal in Meerhout several times a week.
The official launch of H2 Barge 1 took place in Rotterdam on 25 May.
Minister of Infrastructure & Water Management in the Netherlands, Mark Harbers, was in attendance to present FPS Founder, Huib van de Grijspaarde, with a special A-Zero (A0) emission label awarded only to zero-emission vessels.
The FPS Maas/H2 Barge 1 retrofit project is supported by grant funding from the Interreg North Sea Region Programme (Zero Emission Ports North Sea – ZEM Ports NS), Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), Port of Rotterdam and Expertise- en InnovatieCentrum Binnenvaart.
Future Proof Shipping (FPS), offers zero-emissions shipping services to enable players across the value chain make the transition to zero-emissions. As a zero-emissions shipping company, FPS aims to build and operate a fleet of 10 zero-emission inland and short-sea vessels over the next five years which they will offer for charter to logistics service providers and cargo owners. FPS also facilitates other shipowners and stakeholders in the maritime sector who are ready to make the shift to zero-emissions, through technical, financial, and commercial support as well as project development and management.
BCTN is the largest inland terminal operator of the Benelux handling more than 700.000 TEU containers per year, spread across eight locations in the Netherlands and Belgium: Alblasserdam, Den Bosch, Geel, Meerhout, Beringen, Nijmegen, Roermond and Venray. Their main objective is to deliver and pick up containers at the deepsea ports in Rotterdam and Antwerp in an environmentally friendly manner. By barge, they transport cargo to and from their client’s place of business.