Hydrogen reaches a propeller through PEM or solid-oxide fuel cells feeding electric drives, or through hydrogen combustion engines, and modules from Ballard, PowerCell, Yanmar and Hanwha now hold class approvals. Only about seven hydrogen-fuelled ships are in operation, and MF Hydra's trucked liquid hydrogen at EUR 13-14 per kg shows why.
What it is and how it works
Hydrogen reaches a propeller in two ways. Proton-exchange membrane (PEM) or solid-oxide (SOFC) fuel cells convert hydrogen, or a hydrogen carrier such as LNG or ammonia, into electricity for an electric drive, usually with a battery for load levelling. Alternatively, dual-fuel or 100% hydrogen combustion engines burn it directly. Ballard's FCwave 200 kW module, scalable to 1.2 MW, holds DNV, Lloyd's Register and ABS type approvals; PowerCell's 225 kW Marine System gained LR approval in June 2025 (PowerCell); Yanmar's GH320FC and Hanwha's 200 kW PEM system gained DNV approvals in 2025. On the engine side, BeHydro, a joint venture of CMB.TECH and Anglo Belgian Corporation, builds hydrogen engines from 600 kW to 2.7 MW.
Why it matters now
Type approval is no longer the bottleneck; hydrogen cost, bunkering and incomplete rules are. DNV counts about seven hydrogen-fuelled vessels in operation and 30 on order (MarineLink), and only one was ordered in the first half of 2026 against four in the first half of 2025 (Argus). IMO's interim fuel-cell guidelines, MSC.1/Circ.1647, are under revision through CCC 13 in 2027, according to DNV. Hydrogen's deep-sea relevance in 2026 is mainly as a feedstock for e-methanol and e-ammonia rather than as a fuel burned aboard.
Key players and products
Norled's MF Hydra, with two 200 kW Ballard cells, a 1.36-1.5 MWh Corvus battery and two 440 kW diesel gensets, has run on liquid hydrogen since March 2023 and logged more than 20,000 crossings in 18 months (Ballard). The San Francisco ferry Sea Change, with 360 kW of Cummins PEM cells, carried passengers from July 2024 and now runs charters. MSC World Europa's 150 kW Bloom SOFC running on LNG showed 60% electrical efficiency and about 30% lower CO2 in a vendor-reported trial (Offshore Energy). Alma Clean Power plans a 2 MW ammonia SOFC retrofit on the OSV Viking Energy and a 500 kW HELENUS demonstration on a cruise ship. SOFC suppliers are targeting cruise and offshore auxiliary power on LNG and ammonia, while PEM dominates ferries and short-sea propulsion.
Figures that matter
MF Hydra's hydrogen is trucked roughly every three weeks from Linde's Leuna plant in Germany, about 3.2 t per load, because Norway has no liquid hydrogen production (Industry Decarbonization). The delivered cost is estimated at EUR 13-14 per kg, Norled is cutting staff, and one commentator argues the supply chain emitted twice as much as diesel, as reported by CleanTechnica. Installed marine fuel-cell capacity in operation is on the order of a few megawatts; no system cost in USD per kW was found.
| Metric | Value | Source type | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hydrogen-fuelled vessels, DNV count | about 7 in operation, 30 on order | aggregator | DNV via MarineLink |
| Hydrogen ship orders, H1 2026 | 1 (4 in H1 2025) | aggregator | DNV via Argus |
| MF Hydra fuel cells | 2 x 200 kW; 20,000+ crossings in 18 months | vendor | Ballard |
| MF Hydra delivered hydrogen cost, estimate | EUR 13-14 per kg | trade-press | Industry Decarbonization |
| Viking Libra fuel cells | up to 6 MW PEM | trade-press | SWZ Maritime |
| Ballard order for Samskip | 6.4 MW, 32 units | trade-press | electrive |
| Bloom SOFC, MSC World Europa | 150 kW, 60% efficiency | vendor | Bloom via Offshore Energy |
| BeHydro engine range | 600 kW to 2.7 MW | vendor | CMB.TECH |
Developments 2023-2026
- 19 March 2026: Fincantieri launches Viking Libra (54,300 GT) with up to 6 MW of Isotta Fraschini PEM fuel cells on liquid hydrogen, for delivery at the end of 2026, with sister Viking Astrea due in 2027 (SWZ Maritime).
- July 2025: Ballard books 6.4 MW, or 32 FCwave units, for two Samskip vessels (electrive).
- March 2025: CMB.TECH's Windcat takes delivery of the hydrogen-engine crew transfer vessel Hydrocat 60, and CMB.TECH plans eight hydrogen-diesel tugs at Damen in Vietnam.
- 2026: Wartsila leads the EU-funded H4PERION project toward 100% hydrogen combustion, with trials on the ferry Aurora Botnia, according to FuelCellsWorks.
- 6 January 2026: Kawasaki signs to build a liquefied hydrogen carrier of about 40,000 m3, 32 times Suiso Frontier's 1,250 m3, for trials by FY2030 with boil-off gas used as fuel (Kawasaki).
- J-ENG's hydrogen two-stroke engine is due aboard a MOL ship in 2027.
Outlook
Deliveries due in 2026-2027, including Viking Libra at 6 MW, the Samskip ships at 6.4 MW and Alma's 2 MW ammonia SOFC, would multiply installed marine fuel-cell capacity several-fold, but fuel supply remains improvised: trucked liquid hydrogen for Hydra and trucked compressed gas for Hydrotug 1. Until bunkering and IMO rules catch up, hydrogen will remain confined to short-range vessels with public funding behind them.
