AYK installs the biggest marine battery in the world on board Brittany Ferries

MBF Member, AYK has installed the biggest marine battery in the world on board Brittany Ferries new hybrid LNG-electric ferry the Saint Malo.

The 30,000-gt Saint Malo (built 2024) is LNG dual-fueled and with hybrid power, allowing it to enter the ports of Portsmouth in the UK and St Malo in France under electric propulsion when it begins service in early 2025. The 12 megawatt-hour (MWh) Orion+ battery was manufactured and installed within four months at China Merchants Jinling Shipyard Weihai.

AYK founder Chris Kruger said “We’d like to thank Brittany Ferries for giving AYK the opportunity to supply our advanced battery system to this incredible new vessel. The ferry will be able to operate on zero emission battery power while entering and exiting port, immediately improving air quality and cutting emissions in built up port areas. He said the vessel is designed to run on LNG, battery-power or a combination of the two. In Portsmouth the ship will further benefit from the port’s plug-in shore power, the only ferry port in the UK offering electric shore-to-ship power.