Page 51: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2019)

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TECH REPORT MARINE FUELS used for new vessel builds and retro? ts around the world.

“The Chicken Comes First”

One of the oft-quoted challenges is the “chicken and egg” dilemma when a dis- ruptive propulsion technology enters the maritime market. Critics will claim that ship owners are reluctant to deploy new technology in new vessel construction, like hydrogen fuel cells, until the port infrastructure is in place. They will also claim that port infrastructure will not de- velop until there is a strong demand from ship owners creating a “chicken and egg” dilemma.

For Dr. Pratt, the answer is “clearly the chicken needs to come ? rst… the chick- en is the proof”.

Noting that the US produces more than 10 million metric tons of hydrogen an- nually (US DOE), Dr. Pratt believes the necessary ingredients for a rapid expan- sion of maritime hydrogen fuel cell tech- nology already exists in many industrial- ized countries across the world.

He quipped that instead of producing an endless number of feasibility studies, it was necessary to “get the boats on the water” to prove to the international mari- time community that hydrogen technol- ogy could be economically feasible.

Dr. Pratt asserts the biggest factor in determining which parts of the world will adopt this technology is “whether [ship owners] can get hydrogen”. At the moment, not all countries throughout

The GGZM team at the Water-Go-Round keel laying ceremony. From left to right: the world have easy access to hydrogen.

Captain Joe Burgard, Co-Founder; John Motlow, VP Marketing and Strategy; Charlie

Moreover, the majority of vessels will re- quire liquid hydrogen based on their re-

Walther; Tyler Foster; Rose Dawydiak-Rapagnani; Thomas Escher, Co-Founder; and quired endurance since liquid hydrogen

Dan Johnson. has a considerably higher energy density

Photo credit: GGZM

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For inquiries email: [email protected] www.marinelink.com 51

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