Chinese battery manufacturer CATL’s marine subsidiary, Contemporary Amperex Electric Vessel, unveiled what it describes as a fully integrated ‘ship, shore and cloud’ model at Marintec China 2025. The system brings together on board power solutions, battery swapping and charging infrastructure, and remote operational oversight. CATL argues that this level of integration is needed to overcome the operational constraints that have slowed large scale electrification.
Su Yiyi, General Manager of CATL’s Electric Vessel Department, said the conventional model in which power supply, energy replenishment and maintenance are handled by separate suppliers has caused long standing difficulties. Su said that this fragmented structure has created coordination challenges and ambiguous accountability which have led to persistent operational problems over a vessel’s 30-year lifespan.
CATL believes that a single chain of responsibility can mitigate well documented concerns about energy costs, range limits and the lack of standardisation. It argues that these challenges have proved particularly acute in China’s inland and coastal markets, where operators face high humidity, varied water conditions and intensive utilisation.
The ‘ship’ element of the model integrates battery systems, power electronics and navigation technologies with the aim of supporting more stable and extended operations. Shoreside, CATL is promoting a mix of charging and battery swapping networks based on a ‘separation of ship and battery’ concept which seeks to reduce capital pressures and shorten turnaround times. In the cloud, CATL’s Yunfan management platform and Beichen navigation system enable remote monitoring and scheduling.
The company has already delivered close to 900 electric ships and has been behind several early deployments in China’s domestic market. These include the large inland passenger ship Changjiangsanxia 1, China’s first all-electric sea going passenger ship Yujian 77 which is classed by the China Classification Society, the hybrid tug Qinggang Tug 1 and the battery swapping cargo vessel Jining 6006. CATL’s battery systems and energy management products now carry approvals from the five major classification societies.
In parallel with the launch of the integrated model, CATL executives have set out more expansive targets for battery electric propulsion. Zhuang Zhanting, deputy general manager, CATL’s shipping division, has highlighted the commercial barriers that shipowners encounter, including the availability of shore infrastructure, battery cost, safety and regulatory support. CATL aims to address these friction points by offering end to end electrification solutions and by extending its containerised powerpack concept for inland cargo vessels to reduce charging delays.
At Marintec, CATL indicated that ocean going battery electric vessels could enter service within three years. This is a more bullish timeline than many European technology providers have suggested, given the power density limits of current lithium-ion systems. CATL argues that its scale in the automotive battery market, and its existing deployments in China’s domestic waterways, position it to accelerate the transition.
Su said that ‘shipping decarbonization is the next certain trillion-dollar industry’ and that the maritime sector will expand CATL’s market boundaries from land to water. The company is betting that an integrated technical and commercial offer will give it an advantage as governments and operators search for near term options to cut emissions.
