Electric Trawlers and Fishing Vessels

hybrid · day boats · pelagic · hydrogen

Fishing boats spend hours at low load, which batteries cover well, and days far from a charger, which they cannot. Fishing electrifies as hybrids first; battery-only operation is limited to small day boats.

Two columns of fishing vessels with batteries. Coastal day boats: Karoline, 11 meters, 195 kWh, about three hours a day on battery; Angelsen Senior, 21 meters, 271 kWh, battery at light load. Offshore pelagic and longline: Hardhaus, 74.5 meters, 1,017 kWh with diesel-electric drive; Isafold, 87 meters, 1,130 kWh with diesel-electric drive; Loran, 70 meters, 2 MWh plus two 185 kW hydrogen fuel cells. Notes: on day boats the battery does the fishing; on offshore ships it covers peaks, hauling and port time. Battery size grows about tenfold with hull size while trip energy grows far faster. COASTAL DAY BOATS OFFSHORE PELAGIC AND LONGLINE Karoline, 11 m 195 kWh; ~3 h a day on battery Angelsen Senior, 21 m 271 kWh; battery at light load Hardhaus, 74.5 m 1,017 kWh with diesel-electric Isafold, 87 m 1,130 kWh with diesel-electric Loran, 70 m 2 MWh plus two 185 kW fuel cells Battery does the fishing on day boats. Battery covers peaks, hauling and port time. Battery size grows about 10x with hull size; trip energy grows far faster.
Vessels tracked
6
Hybrid-electric
5
First hybrid fishing boat
Karoline, 2015
Largest fishing battery
Loran, 2 MWh
Hub
Vehicles

Finding

Every large electric fishing vessel in service is a hybrid in which the battery covers slow fishing, hauling and port time while diesel covers transit; battery-only fishing is confined to small coastal boats

Øra AS's 11-meter Karoline, built by Selfa Arctic with a 195 kWh Corvus battery in 2015, fished about three hours a day on battery and kept a 50 kW diesel generator for range. Hans Angelsen og Sønner's 21-meter Angelsen Senior (2018, 271 kWh) runs on battery at light load. At the large end, the purse seiner Hardhaus (74.5 m, 1,017 kWh), the pelagic trawler Isafold (87 m, 1,130 kWh) and the longliner Loran (70 m, 2 MWh plus two 185 kW hydrogen fuel cells) use batteries to trim generator hours and cover winch peaks.

Trip energy is the constraint. A coastal boat on a day trip needs a few hundred kWh, which a pack charged overnight at the harbor can supply. An offshore trawler or longliner on a multi-week trip needs hundreds of times the largest fishing battery afloat, plus freezing and processing power around the clock, and there is no charger at sea. Batteries still pay on these ships: fishing gear and hauling create sharp load peaks, and a battery lets one diesel generator run near its efficient point instead of two running lightly loaded, while covering port time and harbor transit with engines off.

Hydrogen is entering at the training and longline end. Vestland County's 35-meter fisheries training vessel Skulebas, built by Hvide Sande Shipyard, combines batteries with 340 kW of PEM fuel cells, and Loran carries fuel cells alongside its diesel plant; neither operator states the hydrogen source. Shore power at fishing harbors, battery-driven winches and refrigeration, and diesel-electric drive trains are the near-term steps for the rest of the fleet.

China operates the world's largest fishing fleet, but no Chinese fishing vessel with a published battery or fuel-cell specification is listed yet; Chinese marine electrification is concentrated in river cargo, ferries and harbor tugs.

Vessel list

Electric and hybrid fishing vessels

Battery-electric first, then hydrogen fuel-cell and hybrid-electric.

Electric and hybrid fishing vessels
VesselCountryPowertrainBattery MWhVessel typeEnergy systemBuilderStatusIn service
Skulebas (Vestland County)Norwayhydrogen fuel-cell electric (unstated fuel)35 m fisheries training vessel; 340 kW PEM fuel cellsBattery plus hydrogen fuel cellsHvide Sande Shipyardin service
Angelsen Senior (Hans Angelsen og Sønner)Norwayhybrid-electric0.2721 mBattery at light load; two diesel gensetsTehnomont Shipyard Pula (hybrid by Elmarin)in service2018
HardhausNorwayhybrid-electric1.0174.5 m purse seiner and trawlerDiesel-electric with batteryCemre Shipyardin service
IsafoldDenmarkhybrid-electric1.1387 m pelagic trawler and purse seinerDiesel-electric with batteryin service
Karoline (Øra AS)Norwayhybrid-electric0.1911 m coastal boatOvernight shore charging; 50 kW diesel generatorSelfa Arcticin service2015
LoranNorwayhybrid-electric (unstated fuel)270 m longlinerDiesel plus two 185 kW hydrogen fuel cells and batterySkipsteknisk (design)in service2022

Segments

Fishing segments by fit for batteries

Fishing segments and electrification path
SegmentTripPowertrainExamplesConstraint
Coastal and inshoreDay trips, back to harbor nightlybattery-electric or plug-in hybridKaroline, Angelsen SeniorBattery size limits range and gear power
Offshore pelagic and purse seineDays to weekshybrid-electric (diesel-electric plus battery)Hardhaus, IsafoldTrip energy far beyond any battery
LonglineWeekshybrid-electric with hydrogen fuel cellsLoranHydrogen storage volume and bunkering
Training and researchShort scheduled voyageshydrogen fuel-cell electricSkulebasHydrogen supply
Auxiliary loadsAll segmentsBattery for winches, refrigeration and hotel loadRetrofits across Nordic fleetsDoes not cut propulsion emissions

Sources

Sources and scope

Scope
Electric Fishing Vessels
Sources
Selfa Arctic; Corvus Energy; Moen Marin; EU Blue Economy Observatory (fishing and aquaculture vessels); Operator, shipyard and class-society releases; Maritime Executive, Baird Maritime, gCaptain, Riviera; EU Blue Economy Observatory; Oct 2026
Updated
October 2026