ARGO: a zero-emissions hydrofoil containership

California-based marine technology startup Boundary Layer Technologies has revealed ARGO — a zero-emissions hydrofoil containership concept design.

As informed, the company plans to operate these vessels to establish a zero-emission shipping service. Hence, replace air freight along major intra-Asia trade lanes. 

Features

The ARGO hydrofoil containership presents the following key features

• Gross payload capacity of 200 tons
• Range of up to 1,500 nautical miles
• Cruise speed of 40 knots, which is twice that of conventional containerships. 

This performance would enable door-door transit times only 15 to 24 hours slower than air freight, but at 50% of the price. 

Moreover, ARGO is powered by green hydrogen and fuel cells, which are stored as a liquid inside its two hulls.

Benefits

”ARGO may also apply to replace other transport modes aside from air freight. We can see ARGO as a beneficial addition to enhance our current feeder and premium ocean freight services around Southeast Asia that are often susceptible to delays,”

Stuart Whiting, Senior Vice President of Global Supply Chain, Logistics & Planning at Schneider Electric.

The company’s proprietary hydrofoil technology enables the speed and price advantages. This is key to allowing ARGO to travel at 40 knots. Meantime, using a fraction of the fuel that a conventional ship would need when traveling at the same speed. 

Note that, a hydrofoil is a submerged wing device used to lift the hull from the water and reduce drag. The company has already completed the development of key pieces of ARGO’s technology stack. Thus, the project is on track to perform full-scale sub-system tests by the end of 2023. 

Effect on the industry

At 110 ft long and 20 TEU capacity, ARGO is a fraction of the size of conventional containerships. This unusually small size could be the key to solving many supply chain issues. 

“ARGO’s small size and payload capacity (comparable to a B747-400F freighter aircraft) cuts dwell time to only 2 hours instead of 3 days, and offers the flexibility of docking virtually anywhere. This allows ARGO to bypass heavily congested ports while also competing with air freight transit times.”

Ed Kearney, CEO and Founder of Boundary Layer Technologies.

“Boundary Layer Technologies’ solution is being well received in the market, From what customers are telling us, the combination of a zero-emission transport solution that can also cut air freight spend would be a gamechanger for helping them meet emissions reduction targets while addressing rising costs from supply chain disruptions,” 

Per Karsten Stolle, strategic advisor to Boundary Layer Technologies (ex Commercial Director, DHL)

The company is currently selecting launch partners for an intra-Asia ARGO service. Launching in Q3 2024 to ship finished goods and components for major electronic manufacturers in the region. 

It has future plans to launch a larger vessel on a transpacific service for which it has a $180 million letter of intent from the digital freight forwarder, Flexport.

Ferry Concept

Several months ago, the Californian startup also launched a fully electric hydrofoil ferry concept design.

The ferry concept design ELECTRA has a range of up to 100 nautical miles and a cruise speed of 40 knots — twice the speed and range of existing electric ferries due to Boundary Layer Technology’s hydrofoil technology and podded propulsion system.

Source: Boundary Layer Technologies