There is a growing need in the maritime industry to transition from conventional to electric propulsion systems to reduce environmental impact. The electric propulsion systems introduce new challenges, as they require a more complex hull design to improve vessel’s energy efficiency. The project explores the opportunity to apply the Small Waterplane Are Twin Hull (SWATH) design on smaller passenger vessels, as it is known for its low hydrodynamic resistance. The choice of excluding a ballast system requires the struts to be thick enough to support the varying deadweight and achieve an acceptable Tons per Centimeter (TPC) value.

The modeling of the vessel was guided by the requirements proposed by the client. The process of the project covers Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, stability calculations and reasoning by comparing features of similar energy-efficient vessels. The results indicate that the SWATH hull design is applicable on a smaller vessel of 48 passengers. Due to the exclusion of a ballast system, the SWATH hull resulted in characteristics that closely resemble a catamaran hull. This design allowed for the batteries to be placed within the hull, which led to a positive shift for the vessel’s center of gravity, and thereby improving its stability. The drag force exerted on the hull resulted in 12 kN, and an energy consumption of 0.23 kWh/nm/passenger.