The N997 has been in the works for the past year, and the dry dock assembly began in March 2023. The 393-foot long ship weighs 10,000 tons and has a carrying capacity for 700 standard-sized containers, earning it the moniker 700 TEU.propulsion engines
. To overcome range anxiety, the battery packs on the ships are completely swappable and have been housed in 20-foot containers to facilitate the swap. Together, the battery packs are estimated to occupy the space of 36 containers, a small sacrifice for the possible reduction in emissions. The approach makes perfect sense for an inland route so that the ship does not have to spend hours charging itself, and the battery packs can also be repurposed on other ships operating on the route in the future.
A smart ship system will be tested alongside the trials to help the vessel manage the resources and plan its speed and arrival time based on multiple factors.Cosco's attempt at electrification of container ships isn't a one-off. The company is already building N998, the successor to this ship.