VESSEL REVIEW | Nova – Electric catamaran to support inland shipping research on Germany's Rhine River

In addition, two coupled Torqeedo system management units in combination with the display interface provide access to all relevant system data for various scientific analyses and monitoring of the powertrain. This way, scientists of UDE and DST can simply focus on their research into making sure the autonomous navigation software would work.

The vessel also features solar panels mounted on the twin catamaran floats. The panels will supply electrical power for the onboard systems during layovers in port, thus freeing up the batteries for providing propulsive power.

Although not yet capable of autonomous operation, Nova will be fitted with systems that would permit such operation. As UDE’s Moctar explained, the boat will need to be able to decide for itself when performing certain manoeuvres even in instances of fog, darkness, or high traffic density.