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INVITED
PAPER
History and State of the Art
in Commercial Electric Ship
Propulsion, Integrated Power
Systems, and Future Trends
By Jan Fredrik Hansen and Frank Wendt
ABSTRACT | Electric propulsion has emerged as one of the
most efficient propulsion arrangements for several vessel types
over the last decades. Even though examples can be found in
the history at the end of 19th century, and further into the 20th
century, the modern use of electric propulsion started in the
1980s along with the development of semiconductor switching
devices to be used in high power drives (dc drives and later ac-
to-ac drives). This development opened up for full rpm control
of propellers and thrusters, and thereby enabling a simplifica-
tion of the mechanical structure. However, the main reason for
using electric propulsion in commercial ship applications is the
potential for fuel savings compared to equivalent mechanical
alternatives, except for icebreakers where the performance of
an electric powered propeller is superior to a combustion en-
gine powered propeller. The fuel saving potential lies within
the fact that the applicable vessels have a highly varying ope-
ration profile and are seldom run at full power. This favors the
power plant principle in which electric power can be produced
at any time with optimum running of prime movers, e.g., diesel
engines, by turning on and off units depending on the power
demand for propulsion and other vessel loads. Icebreakers
were among the first vessels to take advantage of this technol-
ogy later followed by cruise vessel, and the offshore drilling
vessels operating with dynamic positioning (DP). The converter
Manuscript received April 10, 2015; revised June 23, 2015; accepted July 12, 2015.
The authors are with the Marine Department, ABB AS, Billingstad 0575, Norway
(e-mail: jan-fredrik.hansen@no.abb.com; frank.wendt@no.abb.com).
Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/JPROC.2015.2458990
0018-9219 Ó 2015 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
technology was rapidly developing and soon the dc drives were
replaced with ac drives. In the same period electric propulsion
emerged as basic standard for large cruise liners, and DP ope-
rated drilling vessels, but also found its way into other seg-
ments as shuttle tankers, ferries, and other special vessels. At
the same time podded propulsion were introduced, where the
electric motor was mounted directly on the propeller shaft in a
submerged 360 steerable pod, adding better efficiency, im-
proved maneuvering, and reduced installation space/cost to
the benefits of electric propulsion. The future trends are now
focusing on further optimization of efficiency by allowing mul-
tiple energy sources, independent operation of individual
power producers, and energy storage for various applications,
such as power back up, peak shaving, or emission free opera-
tion (short voyages).
KEYWORDS | Commercial ships; cruise vessels; drilling vessels;
frequency converter applications; icebreakers; LNG carriers;
marine technology; podded propulsion; ship electric propulsion
I. INTRODUCTION
Electric ship propulsion has a long history going back more
than 100 years (see [1] and [2]), however, in quite limited
numbers. The main stream of propulsion machinery was
steam turbine propulsion and later on followed by diesel
engines. There are examples of early diesel-electric pro-
pulsion system as for the river tanker Vandal (see Fig. 1)
launched in 1903, with a ship’s power plant of 3 
120 horsepower, with electric transmission to the propel-
lers. The power plant was built in Sweden by Swedish
| Proceedings of the IEEE 1
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Hansen and Wendt: Electric Ship Propulsion, Integrated Power Systems, and Future Trends
Fig. 1. River tanker Vandal. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Vandal_(tanker).
Diesel (Aktiebolaget Diesels Motorer) and ASEA, and the
hull was built at Sormovo shipyard in Nizhny Novgorod
before towed to Saint Petersburg for the final assembly [3].
Despite these few examples, the first-generation electric
propulsion ships are usually considered as the ones built in
the 1920s. At that time, the high propulsion power demand
could only be achieved by turbo-electric machinery. Each
propeller was powered by a steam turbine generator, and
by varying the generator speed, the propulsion motor
speed was controlled. An example from this era is the
passenger liner ‘‘S/S Normandie’’ (see Fig. 2) [4] entering
service in 1935, with 4  29 MW synchronous motors, one
on each of the four propeller shafts. Later on when the
diesel engines took over as direct propulsion prime movers
the need for electric transmission disappeared, and electric
propulsion was seldom used until the 1980s, when the
semiconductor technology developed and opened new
ways of variable speed control of electric motors.
II. MODERN HISTORY
With the development of semiconductor switching devices
as thyristors and transistors for larger power applications, it
became possible to control the rotational speed of electric
motors by varying the electrical power input in terms of
voltage and later on frequency. The first applications of
Fig. 2. ‘‘S/S Nomandie.’’ Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
SS_Normandie.
2 Proceedings of the IEEE |
variable speed motors was dc motors controlled by thyristor
rectifiers. Further, the development of frequency con-
verters made it possible to regulate speed also on ac motors.
Either way, this opportunity to have variable speed control
of propellers independent from the generator operation,
opened new ways of applying electric propulsion. The
power plant principle was established with multiple diesel
generators (or gas turbine generators) providing electric
power at a fixed voltage and frequency. In this principle,
the onboard power plant can be designed almost as any kind
of land based industrial power plant with multiple
generator sets, however without any external connection
to a power grid. This mean that the power plant operates as
an island configuration, with short distances from producer
to consumer. This opening for electric propulsion was
welcomed in certain vessel types that have large variation
in operation profile and/or other large electrical consumers
onboard, as cruise vessels, icebreakers, offshore oil & gas
exploration vessels.
One of the main reason is the fact that variable speed
controlled electric motor has a high efficiency (ab. 95%)
between 5% and 100% of rated power, while for combus-
tion engine the optimum efficiency is around 85%–90% of
rated power, and dropping considerably at lower load ope-
ration, and much more than the electrical transmission
losses. In a simplified way the electric propulsion system
split the power ‘‘plant’’ in several smaller units instead of
‘‘one’’ big prime mover, and by starting and stopping gene-
rator sets according to the varying propulsion and power
demand. This way you can ensure that the generator en-
gines always are loaded close to their optimal operation
point, as Fig. 3 is illustrating.
The electrical losses at full power is more than com-
pensated for on the gained efficiency at part load operation
of the vessel. This simple fact is still valid, but during the
1990s and later in the 2000s and now further into 10th
there are lot of variants, additional and complementary
argumentation about the electric propulsion benefits.
Fig. 3. Power plant principle, efficiency of electric propulsion.
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Hansen and Wendt: Electric Ship Propulsion, Integrated Power Systems, and Future Trends
Many of these variants are discussed and highlighted later
on in this article.
Besides icebreakers who clearly benefit from electric
propulsion on the icebreaking performance itself, it was the
cruise vessels that embraced the variable speed electric
motor drives as their main propulsion. Besides the power
plant principle, also the flexibility in location of equipment
gave benefits. Such that combustion engines could be lo-
cated in their optimum position without the need for long
shaft-lines to the propellers. Among the first modern use of
ac drives was the retrofit of ‘‘Queen Elisabeth 2’’ in the early
1980s [1]. However even for that installation, the RPM
control was limited to start-up, and variable pitch propellers
did power control. However later on in the 1980s the
Fantasy Class [1], [12] and Princess Class [1] cruise vessels
were constructed with fully variable speed electric propul-
sion system with fixed pitch propellers. More cruise vessels
and a series of shuttle tankers followed the same way in the
1990s, and later on also DP drilling vessels were constructed
with same principle technology, however the choice of
converter type could be quite different yielding various re-
quirements and challenges to the power plant design. After
year 2000, and until today, this market has grown steadily
and the converter development has evolved to a more stan-
dard type for any range of propulsion load and vessel size.
A. Power Generation and Distribution
On the power plant side the development from the
1980s until today, has been on optimizing design and
manufacturing of components as generators, transformers
and switchboards (including circuit breakers and protec-
tion relays) (see Fig. 4). However most noticeable develop-
ment has been on control systems and implementing new
IT technology. Several layers build up the power plant
control. Engine governors for controlling the network fre-
quency (by RPM control of diesel engine) and active power
(kW) load sharing. Automatic voltage regulator (AVR) for
controlling the network voltage and reactive power (kVAr)
sharing. On the top, a power management system (PMS)
monitors the power plant and optimize the number of on-
line engines, and possibly adjust the load sharing between
the generators. In addition to control, the power plant must
be protected in case of failure, and for this purpose the
Fig. 4. Examples of marine power generation and distribution
equipment. (a) Generator. (b) Switchboard cubicle. (c) Transformer.
protection relays in the switchboard makes sure that elec-
trical faults are identified and isolated via a selective pro-
tective scheme. Further for protection purpose the PMS
also have functionality to avoid total blackouts by moni-
toring the power plant on a higher level and take protective
actions as heavy consumer start prevention, load reduction,
and load shedding in case of major failures in the power
plant. All these control and protection technologies were in
the early day’s stand-alone units and based on available
technology at the time of use. This has today developed into
more integrated systems, by use of modern digital com-
puter based units, being able to communicate with each
other for optimized performance.
Despite the fact that the power plant technology itself
with respect to components and needed competence for
operation, etc., in practice would be the same for land
based applications and ship based applications there are
certain factors that must be accounted for both with respect
to design, operation and equipment production. IEC 721-3-6
‘‘Classification of environmental conditionsVship envi-
ronment’’ defines guidelines for climatic conditions,
mechanical conditions, and chemical substances to be con-
sidered in design of marine equipment. Requirements and
specification by all the marine classification societies (as
DNV GL, ABS, LRS, BV, and others) includes this. Ship
movements and high vibrations require more rigid mecha-
nical design and construction. For example, lubrication and
cooling circuits must be able to operate under a certain
inclination angle in several directions, either in normal
operation where the ship movements are results of wind
and waves, or in emergency operation where other incidents
(like collision) may lead to larger inclinations. Vibration
levels must also be coped with and for the most sensitive
equipment, vibration dampers in some kind of format is
often used. The environmental conditions like temperatures
and humidity is usually also more demanding for ship
applications, which means that equipment must withstand
some more stringent conditions, which typically may lead to
derating compared to standardized industrial use.
Today, one of the most noticeable development of ma-
rine power plant is the trend to move away from standard
power plant design with a fixed voltage and frequency
switchboard, into dc distribution systems, where each
prime mover can operate more independent of each other.
More details of this trend is presented in a later section.
B. Propulsion Drive System
As mentioned the possibility for variable speed electric
motor drives opened the ways for electric propulsion. Rapid
development of semiconductor switching devices made this
possible. The first versions of variable speed applications
where on dc motor controlled by a silicon controlled
rectifier (SCR), where basic thyristor rectifiers supply the
dc motor voltage and current to give an accurate torque and
speed control. DC drives have an accurate torque control
with low ripple, but other issues as mechanical contact
| Proceedings of the IEEE 3
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Hansen and Wendt: Electric Ship Propulsion, Integrated Power Systems, and Future Trends
Fig. 5. Frequency converter topologies: (a) VSI; (b) CSI; and (c) cycloconverter.
between stator and rotor with brushes created certain
maintenance challenges. The ‘‘dc’’ drives for propulsion
were soon replaced by ac drives in the 1980s. Several
technologies for variable speed control of ac motors were
developed in parallel. Some of the variants were due to type
of ac motor, asynchronous (induction), or synchronous,
other related to application as slow speed direct propulsion
or medium speed geared propulsion. Synchronous and
asynchronous motors dominated the propulsion and
thruster applications for electric ships from the 1980s
and to today, and are still a preferred solution for most
applications, however use of permanent magnet motors has
entered the business the last decade. In the 1980s and
1990s, the clear split between asynchronous motors and
synchronous motors was on the physical size. As this size is
dependent on both rated power and rated speed, the se-
lection typically ended up by using asynchronous motors
for application below 5 W, and synchronous motors for
application above 10 MW. For power rating between 5 and
10 MW the rated RPM was then a decisive factor, indicating
synchronous motors for direct slow speed propulsion down
to 5 MW and asynchronous motors for medium speed
geared propulsion/thruster applications up to 10 MW.
A frequency converter (see Fig. 5) does speed control
of ac motors, as their RPM is depending on the applied
input frequency. Different converter technologies evolved
from the 1980s, and for almost 20 years, it became a
couple of standardized ways of designing electric propul-
sion applications. Voltage Source Inverters (VSI) con-
trolled asynchronous motors. VSI consist of a rectifier,
dc-link and inverter. The rectifier (usually a diode bride)
converting (rectifying) the fixed frequency into dc voltage.
The dc-link capacitor bank smoothens the rectifier dc out-
put voltage and supplies a stable dc voltage to the inverter
(giving the name Voltage Source). The inverter, by using
the active switching semiconductors (IGBTs or IGCTs),
converts the constant dc voltage into a variable frequency
and voltage. The first and still most common used switch-
ing algorithm (control method) in VSIs is called pulsewidth
modulation (PWM), which is also widely ‘‘incorrectly’’
used as synonym for the VSI topology. Today, VSI convert-
ers are fitted with more advanced control algorithms as
direct torque control (DTC) and vector control leading to
4 Proceedings of the IEEE |
higher performance with respect to speed/torque accuracy
and response. DTC was developed in the mid-1980s and later
on commercialized by ABB in mid-1990s [13], and used for
marine applications from about year 2000.
For synchronous motors the converter types used were
current source inverters (CSIs) and cycloconverters. Both
were build up by thyristors, similar as for dc drives, where
the first one has as the name states a constant current dc
link, and a load commutated inverter (LCI), getting the
commutation energy from the synchronous motor field
winding. This type of converter is often named LCI, how-
ever belonging to the CSI family. Cycloconverter is a direct
conversion and can be looked upon as a rectifier where the
dc link voltage is slowly varying between maximum and
minimum. This fact limits the possible output frequency to
about one third of the input frequency, limiting the cyclo-
converter applications to direct slow speed gear less pro-
pulsion applications. All these converter types have pros
and cons, however one issue that favor the VSI type, is the
use of diode bridge rectifiers, which gives you a constant
high power factor (> 0.95) towards the main switchboard.
Thyristor-based converters have a varying power factor
based on the thyristor firing angle which again is depen-
dent on required speed of propeller. Low power factor
affects the efficiency of the power plant and may require
more generators online than what is really needed from
active power [kW] point of view.
Inevitably, when the semiconductor switching devices
like gate turn-off thyristor (GTO), integrated gate con-
trolled thyristor (IGCT), insulated gate bipolar transistor
(IGBT), and other variants became commercially available
for larger power ratings, and higher voltages, and with
acceptable reliability, the VSI type converter became the
dominating technology for propulsion and thruster drives
in year 2000. Today, the VSI type of converter is the stan-
dard solution for all electric propelled marine vessels.
More details and explanation of the different converter
technologies used for marine applications are found in [2].
In the 1990s, podded propulsion was introduced, add-
ing further dimensions to electric propulsion, and initially
penetrating the icebreaking vessels and cruise vessels. To-
day, podded propulsion is more widely used, and explained
in more detail in a later section. Shortly after, the podded
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Hansen and Wendt: Electric Ship Propulsion, Integrated Power Systems, and Future Trends
propulsion, in addition to superior icebreaking effects, also
adds to improved efficiency and increased maneuverability.
In the following sections, the electric propulsion sys-
tem is explained in more details for each application and
vessel type, however focused on today’s solutions. The last
section gives some overview of the latest trends as dc grid
systems, use of energy storage, and other trends seen for
the further electrification of the marine market.
II I. ELECTRIC PROPULSION S OLUTIONS
Electric Propulsion solutions today have many variants
depending on vessel type, operational profiles, and availa-
ble technology at the time of construction, a large flexi-
bility of the design and many parameters that influence the
optimal solution. Over the last ten years, the electrical
propulsion fleet grew three times faster than the world
fleet [5]. Cruise vessels, Icebreakers, DP offshore vessels,
and LNG carriers still accounts for the majority of vessels,
but the technology is increasingly also used in other vessel
types. LNG carriers as mentioned, was the last large group
of vessels changing from mechanical steam propulsion to
electric propulsion with the first vessels ordered in 2003
[6]. Further, other vessel types as dredgers, special con-
struction vessel, pipe layers, cable layers, shuttle tankers,
ferries, etc., are vessel types that increasingly use electric
propulsion, or partly electric propulsion. Some of this is
due to special requirements as operation in ice, as we see
more and more that the vessels themselves are constructed
for icebreaking for travelling in the northern routes with-
out additional icebreaking support. Another driver is DP
operation, which means that you need several propulsion
and thruster units and by that benefit of centralized power
production and distributed electric drive systems.
Except for these drivers, there are also now increas-
ingly interests in looking into alternative propulsion sys-
tems also for vessel types that have traditionally been
propelled by one or two main engines, due to the opera-
tional profile. One of the main benefits of electric propul-
sion is the ability to keep a high propulsion efficiency for
the whole operation range, while many of the vessels
equipped with mechanical propulsion are designed and
optimized for just one single operational point, but in
practice after delivery operates at larger variations than the
design point.
In the following subsections, we will look more in
details of three different application areas of electric
propulsion systems; a) ocean going; b) station keeping;
c) icebreaking.
A. Ocean Going
Cruise vessels and LNG carriers are typically example
of ocean going vessels, where the propulsion is designed
for supplying one or two (sometimes three) main propel-
lers ranging up to 20–25 MW each. The propulsion design
criteria is then a certain vessel speed, but the flexibility of
operating at different speeds are essential. The power plant
is then designed to supply the propulsion, and other loads
(which could be quite substantial) in an optimum way.
Usually, the power plant consist of four to six generator
engines and very often of the same rating in order for the
owner/operator to have same type of spare parts and
maintenance routines for the engines. However, from an
efficiency point of view it could be beneficial to have va-
rious sizes of engine ratings in order to match more pre-
cisely the expected operational profile. Shaftline or podded
propulsion is standard, and propulsion motors for this
category has usually been large synchronous motors
(unless smaller vessels with propulsion ratings less than
5–10 MW). Recently, also asynchronous motors are intro-
duced for the larger frame sizes and ratings. The selection
of motor type today in this category is mostly vendor de-
pendent (different preferences). Frequency converters are
today standardized around the VSI family, and all main
electric equipment are medium voltage 3.3, 6.6, or 11 kV
(unless smaller vessel with less onboard power).
B. Station Keeping
The main purpose of station keeping vessels is to keep
position, and safely perform an operation. Thereby the
thruster units are designed and optimized for giving maxi-
mum thrust at zero knot, which is quite different than
optimizing the design for a specific vessel speed. Further,
the focus for vessels in this category is safety and redun-
dancy, more than efficiency. According to the International
Maritime Organization (IMO) guideline for vessels with
dynamic positioning systems, vessels with assigned DP
equipment Class 2 and Class 3 have to be built with re-
dundancy in the DP system, and related subsystems and
components. The subsystems of a DP system are the power
system, thruster system and DP control system. The design
intend is that in occurrence of a single fault within the DP
system the loss of the affected subsystem or component will
not compromise the station capability of the vessel.
Redundant components and system have to be immediately
available with sufficient capacity to maintain the DP ope-
ration. In order to increase safety in the power distribution
system and achieve up to 100% blackout free operation the
power plant is operated with open transfer breaker be-
tween the main switchboards. The operational conse-
quences of the instant availability of redundant equipment
is that the number of running power producing engines is
higher than necessary, and thereby run at lower load and
efficiency than the optimal point of operation. This is
somehow about to change as the efficiency measurable is
lifted up to also influence the design, but without affecting
the safety. Drilling vessels and offshore support vessels
(OSVs) are example of vessels of this category. In order for
a vessel to keep position by use of DP control system, sev-
eral thruster and propulsion units are equipped on the
vessels both stern and bow. Usually, five to eight units are
installed ranging typically from ab 1 to 6 MW. Some con-
| Proceedings of the IEEE 5
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Hansen and Wendt: Electric Ship Propulsion, Integrated Power Systems, and Future Trends
figuration has equally sized thrusters, as the DP operation is
the main design criteria, while others have a couple of
larger propulsion units in combination with several smaller
thruster units, as both DP and transit operation are im-
portant design criteria. In this category, asynchronous
motors are usually used, and the drive type is here stan-
dardized around VSI family. The thrusters used are either
mechanical with an inboard electric motor, or a podded
unit with submerged electric motor. The power plant is
mainly designed for propulsion and drilling or other ope-
rational purposes and could be either at medium voltage
level or at low voltage level depending on installed power.
C. Icebreaking
For icebreakers and other ice-going vessels the propul-
sion plant have to be dimensioned for navigation in ice, at
different levels, but also need to have certain ocean going
capabilities. In addition to specialized icebreakers, due to
increased ship traffic in the northern polar regions, other
vessel types like container vessel, shuttle tankers, oil tank-
ers, and now also LNG carriers are ordered with icebreak-
ing capabilities. This means that the propulsion design
need to tradeoff between a high bollard pull demand, pro-
peller overtorque, and open water efficiency.
For icebreaking operation, variable speed electric mo-
tor drives have proven to be superior to mechanical pro-
pulsion, due to high over torque capability and fast and
accurate torque response of the electric motor drives. The
DTC and Vector Control algorithms of the VSIs have
proven to be superior to other drive types in this respect,
because of the capability to have high torque in a wide
propeller RPM area without having a negative effect on the
power plant, such as harmonics and poor power factor.
Podded propulsion when introduced in the 1990s, were
originally designed for icebreaking purpose and has proven
its performance for this vessel type since. With the ability
to combine full speed control of propeller in both
direction, full 360 steerable units, and direct transmission
from motor to propeller the performance in ice is superior
to shaft-line and other mechanical alternatives. This
opened up possibilities for traditional ocean going vessels
to be designed for icebreaking in stern direction and open
water sailing in ahead direction.
IV. PODDED PROPULSION
ABB introduced Azipod in 1993 at first for icebreakers. In
short, the Azipod is a 360 steerable unit where the electric
motor is installed directly on the propeller shaft in an
underwater unit. The concept proved so well for the first
pilot installation, that it later become kind of industry
standard to use Azipod on ice going vessels. Later, it en-
tered cruise vessel segment, and then efficiency, maneu-
verability and space saving as main arguments. For about
10 years after the introduction, podded propulsion was
dominating on icebreaker and cruise vessel. Other vendors
6 Proceedings of the IEEE |
Fig. 6. Examples of azipod variants.
also followed up with variants of podded propulsion as
Alstoms Mermaid (now a Rolls Royce product), and Sie-
mens SSP. In this time the podded propulsion was basically
used for larger propulsion application up to 20 MW, and
with medium voltage motor-drive systems.
Later on, smaller and more compact versions were de-
veloped for lower power ratings and with variants for both
station keeping and ocean going applications. This opened
the door for podded propulsion to several vessel types as
drilling rigs, ferries, survey vessels, OSVs, etc., as it be-
came an alternative to the more traditional mechanical
azimuth thruster. Mechanically an electric pod is simple in
construction with minimized rotating parts. The electric
motor is directly connected to the propeller shaft integ-
rated with the thrust bearing and propeller bearing. The
electric transmission is done via slip rings, enabling the
underwater unit to rotate 360-. Inside the vessel is a
steering unit and possibly a cooling unit for the versions
that need forced cooling (see Fig. 6).
V. EXAMPLE VESSEL T YPE
SPECIFIC SOLUTI ONS
In this section, we will focus on the electric propulsion
solutions applied for some of the main vessel types. What
are the main characteristics, and why are the solutions
attractive? Icebreakers are omitted in this section as this
type of vessels have been described before, and also that
we see a larger demand of specific vessel types that will
have icebreaking capabilities, which then will be covered
by following subsections when applicable.
A. Cruise Vessels
Electric propulsion is nowadays applied on practically
all cruise ships (see Fig. 7) without exceptions, because it
is by far the most economical approach to combine the
requirements of high hotel load and variation in the load
profile [10]. As the cruising business has boomed and ves-
sels have increased in size and passenger capacity, the
requirements for comfort, safety and availability have
gained notable importance. Azimuthal thrusters are pop-
ular in the high-end cruisers, since they provide improved
efficiency and maneuverability, low noise and vibration
levels, and flexibility in the engine room design. The
electrical power and propulsion plant is designed with
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Hansen and Wendt: Electric Ship Propulsion, Integrated Power Systems, and Future Trends
Fig. 7. Cruise vessel with power and propulsion overview.
medium voltage rated equipment, and main electrical
power distribution is done on 11 kV system. 11 kV diesel
generators (4 to 6) are feeding the main switchboard, and
from there the propulsion drive system of 3.3 kV (typical,
variants exists) are fed via propulsion transformers. Most of
the cruise ships are configured for two (or three) propel-
lers, mostly because of redundancy and feasible power
limits of electric drives. Dual-stator motors supplied by
parallel frequency converters are commonly utilized at the
highest power ratings, because the maximum current rat-
ings of frequency converters are typically much lower than
those of electric motors. In addition, such solutions provide
redundancy and reduce harmonics in the electric system.
Podded propulsion gained entrance to this market about
1995, and is today one of the most used propulsion variants
on new cruise vessels. Rated power of each propulsion line
is typically around 20 MW, and total installed generator
power can reach 80 MW or more. For example, the largest
cruise ship today ‘‘Allure of the Seas’’ has an installed power
capacity of 97 MW divided on six engines, and 60 MW of
propulsion divided on three propulsion lines [11]. Propul-
sion converters are of VSI type, and most of these vessels
are using synchronous motors as these are directly coupled
to the propeller either in a pod or through a shaft-line.
Some cruise vessels have lately also been equipped with
large slow speed induction motors. ABB is using synchro-
nous motors due to overall efficiency considerations.
B. DP Class Drilling Vessels
While cruise vessels are mostly about sailing, maneu-
vering, and powering a small city, drilling vessels are de-
signed to keep position and do required drilling operations
(see Fig. 8). This gives different requirements to power and
propulsion plant, and for these vessels, the safe and reliable
operation is the key focus. These vessels are operated with a
DP control system, in order to keep the vessel in correct
position. This control system delegates required propeller
speed and power to all the units in order to counteract the
environmental forces from wind, waves and currents. The
propulsion plant is therefore optimized for this application,
giving maximum thrust force. Each thruster is then de-
signed and constructed with a nozzle around the propeller
in order to direct the water flow straight astern as much as
possible. A nozzle creates additional resistance in sailing/
transit operation, and is therefore only used on vessels
optimized for performance at vessel speeds around 0 knots,
Fig. 8. Drillship with power and propulsion overview.
known as bollard pull. DP Drilling vessels have two basic
designs, either as a ship or as a rig. However, the power and
propulsion system is quite similar in design with six to eight
thrusters, and six to eight generators. Because of the re-
quired availability and redundancy defined by DP classifi-
cation rules the power plant is split in 3 to 8, depending on
vessel type and design. Usually, a drillship has six diesel
generators with either one or two at each split, and a drill-
rig has eight diesel generators in either 4 or 8 split. The
total installed power is typically in the range of 40 to
50 MW, and the voltage level is therefore usually 11 kV on
the main switchboard. The thruster drives could in this
case either be at 690 V (low voltage) or 3.3 kV (medium
voltage), depending on the thruster sizes ranging from
about 3 MW (for rigs) up to 5.5 MW (for ships). The
thruster units are always of azimuthing type, being able to
give thrust in any direction as controlled by the DP system.
The thruster itself could be of mechanical design, either
with an inboard electric motor or of podded design.
Besides the propulsion/thruster plant the biggest elec-
trical consumer on these vessels are the drilling system,
comprising of about 10 MW variable speed drilling motors.
In addition, this fact favors the use of a centralized power
plant for electricity production.
C. OSV/OCV
Offshore support/construction vessels (OSV/OCV) are
a class of vessels with many variations in operational
characteristics, sizes, and designs (see Fig. 9). This section
will therefore only give some very general characteristics.
These vessels are smaller than the other vessel types
discussed, and with less installed power, typically around
10 MW, but with examples of up to 20 MW. The complex-
ity varies from more standardized supply vessels, to more
advance vessels like anchor handlers, pipe-layers, con-
Fig. 9. OSV with power and propulsion overview.
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Hansen and Wendt: Electric Ship Propulsion, Integrated Power Systems, and Future Trends
struction vessels etc. The majority of these vessels with a
certain complexity are today diesel-electric, however still a
certain amount of mechanical propulsion is used for the
more standardized versions. Required DP operation and
flexibility favors the electric designs, and for this design,
most vessels use 690 V (low voltage) power generation and
distribution systems. The thruster drives are usually also on
690 V giving possibilities for a variety of design with and
without transformers, and possibly also today with DC dis-
tribution as will be described in following sections. The
largest vessels with up to 20 MW-installed power may switch
to medium voltage (6.6 kV) design. These vessels typically
consists of two main propulsion units, either as shaft-line or
azimuth construction. Further, several bow-thrusters (and
possibly stern thrusters in combination with shaft-line pro-
pulsion) complete the DP operational requirements. Usually,
these vessels must be designed with tradeoffs between good
transit performance and good DP performance.
D. LNG Carriers
LNG Carriers (see Fig. 10) were one of the latest vessel
types to make a distinct shift from mechanical propulsion to
electrical propulsion [6]. The operation profile of a classic
LNG carrier with a long-term charter does not intuitively
favor electric propulsion as they most of the time operates on
design speed. However, these vessels used steam turbines as
main propulsion as one of the last major vessel types because
of the available boil-off gas from the cargo. LNG Carriers, as
the name indicate, carries Liquid Natural Gas at a tempera-
ture of minus 163  C. The gas is kept liquid by insulated
tanks, but is allowed to boil in order to avoid too big pressure
built up. The simplest way to deal with this boil-off gas was to
burn it and produce steam for propulsion demand. This is not
as efficient power production as from combustion engines,
meaning that when the technology made combustion en-
gines available for operating with gas as fuel, this opened the
way for electric power production from the boil-off gas, and
thereby utilizing electric propulsion. Until now, mainly four-
stroke generator engines have been available for these sizes
of vessels, but now also two-stroke gas or dual fuel engines
are available and used for direct mechanical propulsion.
Another factor playing a role is that the LNG Carrier
business has also changed the last years from only long-
Fig. 10. LNG Carrier with power & propulsion overview.
8 Proceedings of the IEEE |
term chartered vessels on fixed routes to more short term
and even spot trading of LNG. This again favors electric
propulsion with the flexibility and the capability to keep
also a high propulsion efficiency at lower vessel speeds. In
this respect the LNG carriers of the future will be seen
with several types of propulsion system, where electric will
be one of them.
What characterize the electric propulsion system for
LNG is that most vessels have a single propeller, and a
reduction gear between the propeller and the propulsion
motors. Reduction gears are even used for those vessels
built with twin propellers. The reduction gear enables use
of medium speed electric motors of less physical size than
corresponding slow speed motors. Beside this fact, the
electric propulsion plant of an LNG is quite similar to what
is used on cruise vessels, with two independent converter
lines supplied by a two split switchboard. Normal operating
voltage on these vessels are 6.6 kV. Besides the propulsion
plant, there is also an approximately 10 MW cargo plant. This
is not used in combination with propulsion, hence another
benefit is that the installed power capacity can be dimen-
sioned on the propulsion demand, and more than cover for
the cargo demand when the vessel is at its terminal.
VI. FUTURE TRENDS
AND T ECHNOLOGIES
A. New SolutionsVDC Grid
DC grid is a novel, new electric power distribution
concept that, while utilizing the well proven ac generators
and motors, opens new opportunities for efficiency im-
provements and space savings. The efficiency improve-
ment is mainly accomplished by the fact that the system is
no longer locked at a specific frequency (usually 60 Hz on
ships), even though any 60 Hz power source also would be
connectable to the grid. The new freedom of controlling
each power consumer totally independently opens up nu-
merous ways of optimizing the fuel consumption. Since
the main switchboard is omitted, including its generator
and feeder circuit breakers, a new design of the protection
system is proposed. Proper protection of the onboard dc
grid is achieved by a combination of fuses, isolator
switches and controlled turn-off of semiconductor power
devices. Fig. 11 show the layout of the machinery and
electric distribution and propulsion system for a typical
platform supply vessel (PSV) with traditional ac distribu-
tion and the new onboard dc grid, respectively.
There are several ways of configuring the onboard dc
grid from a multidrive approach [see Fig. 11(a)] to a fully
distributed system [see Fig. 11(b)]. In the multidrive ap-
proach all converter modules are located in one or multiple
lineups and occupies the same space as today’s main ac
switchboard. For the distributed system, each converter
component may be placed more freely around the vessel,
normally close to the respective power source or load, and
 This article has been accepted for inclusion in a future issue of this journal. Content is final as presented, with the exception of pagination.
Hansen and Wendt: Electric Ship Propulsion, Integrated Power Systems, and Future Trends
Fig. 11. Platform support vessel with (a) traditional ac distribution
and (b) dc distribution.
the rectifier can be integrated in the synchronous genera-
tor. Common for both alternatives is that the main ac
switchboard and all converter transformers are omitted in
the new concept. Instead, all generated electric power is
fed directly or via a rectifier into a common dc bus that
distributes the electrical energy to the consumers (see
Fig. 12). A separate inverter unit then feeds each main
consumer. Where ac distribution network is still needed
(e.g., ‘‘230 V hotel load’’), it will be fed using island con-
verters, specially developed to feed clean power to these
more sensitive circuits.
Further, converters for energy storage can be added
to the grid. Energy storage media as batteries or super-
capacitors can be used for a wide variety of functions like
load leveling, peak power and zero-emissions operation, as
explained in following section. The first vessels with dc
grid solutions have already been delivered, and put in
operation. For one of the vessels M/S Dina Star, fuel
savings in DP operation has been reported as high as 27%
for certain operation modes.
B. Energy Storage
1) Energy Storage Technology: Energy storage (ES) and
associated technologies have received a substantial increase
in attention in recent years, not least in the maritime in-
Fig. 12. Various dc grid configurations: (a) multidrive approach and (b) distributed approach.
dustry. Used either as main power source or in parallel
operation (hybrid) with combustion engines ES contributes
to improve safety, efficiency and performance of future
electric propulsion vessels. ES media fall into three broad
categories: batteries, super capacitors, and flywheels,
where the first two seem to be gaining ground on the
latter. Super capacitors are often favored in short time
repetitive and power intensive applications. Batteries on
the other hand have typically suited energy-intensive appli-
cations. The battery is, however, slowly encroaching on
super capacitor territory with its ever-improving chemis-
tries and cooling solutions. Regardless, we are now at a
stage where it is economically and technically viable to use
ES on an increasingly large scale in marine power systems.
2) Integrating ES Into a Power System: There are three
typical ways of integrating ES into a marine power system,
each with inherent advantages depending on application.
/ Connecting to the ac network through a static-
frequency converter and transformer.
/ Connecting to the internal dc link of a converter or
dc distribution system through a dc/dc converter.
/ Connecting to the internal dc link of a converter or
dc distribution system directly.
Regardless of which alternative is used, the power-
electronic hardware used to control the flow of power in and
out of the energy storage system remains the same as used in
low voltage VSI converter systems, and shown in Fig. 13.
In applications where the battery is the main energy
source, this is relatively straightforward since they can be
treated much like a traditional generator. However, in cases
where their purpose is to enhance the overall performance of
a system, and do so in parallel with diesel generators; this
requires more attention. In such systems, the ES system can
take on a wide range of functions as shown in Table 1.
C. Hybrid Propulsion
Propulsion systems can be split in two principle groups,
direct engine driven propeller and electric motor driven
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Hansen and Wendt: Electric Ship Propulsion, Integrated Power Systems, and Future Trends

Fig. 13. Different converter types in the ACS800/ACS880 industrial LV converter family reusing the same power-electronic building block.

Table 1 Energy Storage Functions

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Hansen and Wendt: Electric Ship Propulsion, Integrated Power Systems, and Future Trends
Fig. 14. Hybrid propulsion single-line configurations: (a) separate
mechanical and electrical propulsion units and (b) combined
mechanical and electrical on same propulsion unit.
propeller. Both system have its advantage and disadvantage
and use depends on vessel type and operation. For certain
vessel types both propulsion types can be merged to im-
prove the overall power efficiency and safety as redundant
alternative propulsion for emergency operation. Merging
of both system is referred to as hybrid propulsion. Hybrid
vessel propulsion can be achieved in it simples way by
combining direct engine driven and electric motor driven
propellers [see Fig. 14(a)]. More advanced systems com-
bining directly engine and electric motor driven on a single
propeller [see Fig. 14(b)]. For most cases, this would mean
a two-stroke engine propulsion line with a PTO/PTI func-
tion of an installed shaft generator. This kind of systems
has existed in smaller scales for many years, however with
some limitations in the use of the electric system and
usually only then for Power Take Out (function).
Today, the converter technology has opened up for
advanced use of an electric motor/generator in combina-
tion with a combustion engine, in such a way that the same
electric machine could run in both generator mode and
motor mode. A number of operation modes can be ima-
gined and following are just a few examples.
/ Pure electric. This mode can be used in certain
maneuvering situations and for zero-emission ope-
ration if there is energy storage device installed,
and as ‘‘take me home’’ function if there is failure
on the main engine.
/ Combined propulsion, boost mode. If for a short time
the vessel need a higher speed or bollard pull than
normal, both the engine and electric motor power
the propeller.
/ Combined propulsion, mixed mode. Some propeller
ran by engine, other electric. Example could be in
maneuvering or in DP operation where main pro-
pulsion is part of DP system.
Another use of the term Hybrid in this respect is on the
power plant side where the use of energy storage, batteries
in particular, in combination with diesel engines form a
hybrid power plant. Even for this solution, it could well be
fully electric propulsion, or mixed electric and mechanical
propulsion. In this article, we use the term Hybrid Propul-
sion on propulsion system that contains a mix of com-
bustion engines and electric driven propellers.
Besides the traditional fully electric ship-types already
discussed, the use of hybrid propulsion in one way or
another will beneficial more vessel types in the future,
especially considering new available renewable energy
sources and energy storing possibilities.
D. DP Closed Bus
This section is partly based on [9]. In the last couple of
years, there has been a growing market demand for ope-
rating DP class drilling vessels with closed bus power sys-
tem, even under the strictest DP requirements. The main
motivation for going in this direction is to utilize the full
potential of an electric power and propulsion system with
respect to fuel efficiency, emissions and flexibility. For
other ship types (e.g., cruise vessels and LNG carriers),
this operation mode has been a standard ever since the
electric propulsion principle was introduced, for fuel
saving reasons.
Today the fuel efficiency is getting higher priority also
for drilling vessels, and thereby pushing the requirements
for closing the transfer breakers under operation. How-
ever, the safety requirements are still of equal or even
higher importance than before, such that provisions must
be made to existing power plant designs in order to prove
an equal integrity towards any imaginable fault condition.
This has led to added requirements from operators and
classification societies for the design of the power and
propulsion plant.
The technology development of products and system de-
sign is constantly moving forward. New generation of pro-
tection relays, new communication standards like IEC 61850
and automation systems supporting this standard is enabling
a design being able to fulfill the new requirements for closed
bus operation. This new technology opens new ways for
integrating the power and automation system in one uni-
form design built around the same IEC standard.
In addition, the possibility for all systems to com-
municate at the same level implies that a huge amount of
data is available for diagnostic and monitoring and conse-
quently enables for more efficient and qualified support of
the operator in service and maintenance tasks.
1) Closed Bus Operation: Operating electric ship power
systems with closed transfer breakers or bustie breakers is
not a technical challenge as such, but a question of safety
philosophy. The designs have basically always been done
with two or more separated switchboard systems. Opera-
tional wise they were designed to operate as one unit by
use of transfer or bus-tie breakers. The protection system
was designed with traditional time/current selectivity such
that electrical faults anywhere in the system would be
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Hansen and Wendt: Electric Ship Propulsion, Integrated Power Systems, and Future Trends

isolated closest to the fault place. In later ships, to allow

the main distribution to be operated in a closed ring
configuration, the protection extended with current dif-
ferential protection or directional over-current protection.
However, the risk of blackout was never zero, and occa-
sionally blackouts happened due to unforeseen failure
modes, also considering failures in the protection system,
or underestimated ride through capacities of healthy parts
of power plants exposed to disturbances from faulty parts.
Today for DP Class 3 drilling vessels the question of
closed bus operation is therefore a matter of minimizing
this risk to the same level as operating in a split bus mode.
Achieving this goal is done by close cooperation between
ship-owners, suppliers and classification societies. The re-
quirements have been market driven, and the suppliers
have developed new solutions to fulfil these requirements.
In parallel, the classification societies have published re-
vised rules, additional notations, and guidance notes on
how the integrity can be kept at the highest possible level.
2) Requirements for Closed Bus Operation: Both DNV GL
(DYNPOS ER) and ABS (DPS 2/3-EHS) have issued new
and revised rules for DP systems, with requirements for
closed bus operation. Together with market driven require-
ments and the technology development both in more
advanced and intelligent devices and system configurations
we have summarized the main closed bus operational re-
quirements as follows:
/ Enhanced and robust power plant design. Imple-
mented zone protection with fast failure detection
and discrimination of failed components or system.
The zone protection act then as the primary pro-
tection function, and the traditional time-current
selectivity settings will still function as backup
protection in case of severe communication faults,
Fig. 15.
/ Resistance to hidden failures. Protection with backup
arrangement as alternative action to isolate faulty
system or components, self-diagnostic.
/ Enhanced Generator Protection system. Protection for
over- or under-fueling and excitation as well as load
sharing. These are failures that are normally not
covered by the traditional protection relays, how-
ever considered as protection system and should be
an integrated part of the overall protection system.
/ Autonomous systems. Autonomous and decentra-
lized thruster and generator systems to achieve
segregation in order to minimize the effect of
failures and dependencies.
/ Blackout prevention. Fast load reduction to avoid
overload due stopping of one or more generators in
large consumers (mainly thruster and drilling va-
riable speed drives).
/ Fast blackout recovery. With no manual interac-
tion and full thruster control on DP within 45 s
(DNV-GL) or 60 s (ABS).
Fig. 15. Comparison block based zone protection versus traditional
time-current selectivity.
/ Transformer premagnetizing. For reduction of large
inrush current and related voltage drop (mainly
thrusters and drilling supply transformer) espe-
cially with one generator out of service.
/ Fault ride through capability. For essential systems,
especially on the low-voltage distribution side. It is
important that faults are cleared as quickly as pos-
sible so time delay in under voltage devices and
other fault tripping delays can be minimized.
Most of these functions would be natural to implement
also for DP power systems without any closed bus re-
quirements, and they are gradually included in what would
be part of standard offerings to DP vessels.
Specifically for closed bus operation, the additional
requirements would be to prove that the new system has
the same or higher integrity as the traditional designs. The
only principle to get acceptance for this is to perform
comprehensive FMEAs and full scale testing on-board after
installation and commissioning.
3) Switchboard Zone Protection: The switchboard con-
figuration reflects the division of systems in redundancy
groups throughout the design concept of the vessel. The
switchboards are separated where each redundancy group
has assigned an independent switchboard. Each individual
switchboard is defined as separate switchboard zone as
well as cable connecting two switchboard as defined as
separate cable zone. Zone protection functions are applied
in each individual switchboard to detect failures within the
respective zone. Through switchboard segregation and se-
lective protection functions, the worst single failure within
the main distribution system is limited to the loss of the
switchboard, which is exposed to the failure-following the
basic design philosophy that any single failure will not

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Hansen and Wendt: Electric Ship Propulsion, Integrated Power Systems, and Future Trends
Fig. 16. Four split SWBD zone configuration.
cause total blackout. Fig. 16 shows the basic zone and
redundancy configuration for a four-split power plant
typically applicable for semisubmersible drilling rigs.
With the latest generation of protection relays, zone
protection can be simplified by utilizing high-speed
generic object oriented substation event (GOOSE) com-
munication capability, and applying what is called block-
based protection scheme principle. Basic principle of the
protection scheme is that the protection relays within one
zone exchanging fault-current status information and
conclude if the failure place causing the fault current is
located within the zone or outside the zone. If the zone
protection function locates the failure place within the
zone, the adjacent transfer circuit breaker will isolate the
zone instantly. With the faulty zone isolated the remaining
healthy system continuous operation within the perfor-
mance of its power plant configuration. Within the faulty
zone, standard protection functions will clear the failure
and set the subsystem into to a safe state.
4) Enhanced Generator Protection System: The early ver-
sions of enhanced generator protection were made based
on the acknowledgement of certain failures that were dif-
ficult to catch by normal protection relays, apparently led
to trip of healthy generators in first stage, and then led to
partial or full blackouts. Examples of such failures could be
a fuel rack stuck in a fixed position leading to over or under
fueling of one engine. This could lead to other connected
engines taking all load variations and thereby trip on over-
load or reverse power, leaving only the faulty generator on
the network. Examples of handling such faults by using
various types of algorithms is illustrated in Fig. 17. Voting
between three or more generators or looking at the ex-
pected correlation between certain parameters that should
follow each other in normal situations, but not necessarily
in faulty situations. Examples of such correlation are the
VoltageVReactive Power Output, FrequencyVActive
Power Output, Fuel-RackVActive Power, or VoltageV
Excitation Current.
VI I. CONCLUDING REMARKS
Electric propulsion in commercial shipping has a history
going back more than 100 years; however, the break-
through and ‘‘mass’’ production started in the 1980s with
the rapid development of high power semiconductor
switching devices. This was an enabler to build efficient
controllable speed propulsion and thruster drive systems.
For certain vessel types, the electric way was quite obvious,
as for cruise, icebreakers, and offshore DP vessels, where
the electrification gained efficiency, performance, and
reliability advantages over the more traditional mechanical
propulsion systems. More vessel types were introduced to
this concept, and in the last decade, electric propelled
vessels grew three times faster than the world fleet. Along
the way, new products have been introduced (as podded
propulsion), new and efficient converter designs have been
implemented (VSI converters), and more IT intelligence
have been incorporated (as implementation of IEC 61850
and GOOSE communication protocol). All this are leading
Fig. 17. DGMS voting and correlation algorithm illustration.
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Hansen and Wendt: Electric Ship Propulsion, Integrated Power Systems, and Future Trends

to increased advantages for the electric propulsion concept
and possibilities to grow further in existing and new vessel
segments.
The latest technologies of dc distribution and use of
energy storage is further opening possibilities also for ves-
sel types that have not seen any reason to look in the elec-
tric direction before. A good example of this is the recent
delivery of the fjord crossing battery ferry ‘‘Ampere’’ in
Norway. It is a pure zero–emission ferry. However, for
most of the vessels energy storage is considered in hybrid
solutions in combination with combustion engines (gener-
ator engines), and by this responding to increasingly
stricter environmental emission requirements in coastal
waters. It is also worth to mention that vessels equipped
with electric or hybrid propulsion have the necessary
onboard infrastructure to accommodate future electrical
energy sources as fuel cells, solar panels in combination
with energy storage media. h

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Jan Fredrik Hansen was born in Lørenskog,
Norway, in 1970. He graduated from Norwegian
University of Science and Technology (Trondheim,
Norway) and received the M.Sc. degree in electric
power engineering in 1995 and the Ph.D. degrees
in electrical engineering on the topic on Modeling
and Control of Marine Power Systems in 2000.
In 1999, he joined ABB Marine working on de-
livery projects with electric propulsion, and vari-
ous R&D projects and activities. In 2003, he joined
the ABB Marine sales team focusing on promoting and selling electric
propulsion systems for LNG Carriers. In 2008, he transferred to the
position as Technology Manager within the Oil & Gas vessel segment in
ABB Marine.
Frank Wendt was born in Germany in 1964. He
received the Dipl.-Ing. (FH) degree in electrical
engineering from the University of Applied
Sciences for Engineering and Economics (FHTW),
Berlin, Germany, in 1999.
In 1999, he joined ABB working as project engi-
neer on several delivery projects, doing both de-
sign, engineering, and commissioning of electric
propulsion drive systems. His current position is
as technical specialist on propulsion system, with
an expert level on converter technologies and energy storage systems.

14 Proceedings of the IEEE |