Boats, ships, and ferries on marine land consume high fuel leading to carbon dioxide (CO2). The amount of carbon dioxide released causes the water in the ocean to be acidic, and marine species and ecosystems increasingly become vulnerable.
A Kochi start-up, NavAlt Solar Ferry & Electric Boat, is fashioning to design ferry and boat powered by solar energy. It is also working on the world’s first green energy RORO.
While marine transport may seem the ideal way of transportation but it consumes diesel, a highly polluting fossil fuel.
To help tackle this issue and bring justice to flora and fauna, Sandith Thandasherry is the founder and CEO of NavAlt Solar Ferry & Electric Boat. Aditya became the country’s first solar-powered ferry boat contemplating the minimize of polluted components in the ocean and promoting zero-emission gas with solar-powered mobility.
Mad4India brings a nature-oriented story of a Kochi-based entrepreneur, who is planning to go global with his solar-powered marine drives.
Solar Ferry & Electric Boat
It all started in 2013 when Sandith started NavAlt. Before that, he was a naval architect by profession. He would move to places and design the outline of the ships. He graduated from IIT Madras.
Before launching his start-up on solar-powered ferry and electric boat, he worked in South Korean shipyards, famous for its big naval shipbuilders.
He was in his early 20s when his passion for shipbuilding began. In a chance encounter, while he was building designs for Navgathi, he cracked an opportunity to build India’s first solar boat, and thus came the start of NavAlt Solar Ferry & Electric Boat.
After four years of consistent working and nailing to crook, Aditya was founded in 2017, which was inaugurated by the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and then Central Cabinet Minister for Power & Renewable Energy, Piyush Goyal. Hence, the title of India’s first solar-electric boat came into existence.
The vital of this start-up was simple and smart. It was to bring electric boats to help replenish marine life.
As per studies, a boat run by diesel needs around 45-60 kW to ferry around 55-60 passengers. An electric boat powered by solar consumes less energy. The perk of using solar-powered ferries is that it takes less power due to the material used, aluminium, composites, and lighter components.
Apart from making a solar-powered mobility system, they want to create a self-reliant marine ecosystem. For years, human beings have been exploiting nature till it exhausts vulnerably. With Naval, the goal implies pioneering electric boat, a zero mission ferry for all passers-by by making the marine system efficient.
With Aditya, the envision was modified by taking inspiration from the advancement in electric vehicle technology and marine engineering.
It is no deniable that there is a waking call from sustainability. There is a global need for energy-efficient solutions and technology for a green future.
With the success of the ferry and electric boat, Sandith Thandasherry also bagged the prestigious award of the Global Cleantech Innovation Program (GCIP) in 2017. He received the award in a ceremony held in the Silicon Valley in the US. for making the country’s first solar-powered ferry and electric boat.
Apart from creating a standard mobilization, NavAlt has also considered the destruction caused by the fuel from the marine mobile, including boats and ferries.
Along with the project, the state government has been very supportive of the idea. NavAlt is also working on building a solar electric Roll-on Roll-off that can carry large vehicles and trucks. It is to be said that this will be the world’s first RORO as of now.
NavAlt is also pushing to introduce solar fishing boats to make the intentions and better life for fishermen.
Keeping intact the climate change and the rising temperature of the Earth. It is more than ever to preserve the heritage of the marine ecosystem.
With a holistic change and the will to bring new changes, Mad4India hopes to see more admirable changes from NavAlt on the solar ferry and electric boat.
To know more about NavAlt, please check – Website, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook
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