The biggest battery ferry still hitched a ride. Arrival is not a timetable.
Jason Rieck · Cat Cruisers · Gold Coast · 30 September 2026
On 15 September 2026, The Driven reported that Hull 096, the battery-electric ferry Incat Tasmania built for Buquebus, had arrived in Nueva Palmira, Uruguay. It floated free of the heavy-lift ship Black Marlin on the Monday before that report, less than a month after leaving Hobart.
My take, early. Crossing an ocean on someone else's deck is a delivery, not a proof that the ferry is ready for passengers. The Driven says commissioning still has to happen before regular service.
What arrived
Hull 096 is for a 30 nautical mile run between Argentina and Uruguay, on the River Plate between Buenos Aires and Colonia. The Driven says it can carry more than 2,000 passengers.
Buquebus had planned an LNG ferry. In 2023 it asked for the boat to be 100 per cent battery-powered instead.
The first of four battery rooms was energised in October 2025. An e-motor trial in December powered up the battery systems. A month later, Hull 096 ran harbour trials on the River Derwent, the first time it moved on its own battery-electric propulsion.
Black Marlin, one of the world's largest heavy-lift vessels, reached Tasmania at the end of July after delays the article ties to events in the Middle East. Hull 096 was loaded aboard and taken across the Pacific and around Cape Horn. Incat posted video the week before the report as the ship rounded the southern tip of South America.
What this article actually states
- More than 2,000 passengers
- A 30 nautical mile route, Buenos Aires to Colonia
- Four battery rooms; the first energised in October 2025
- Built for Buquebus; another three similar electric ferries now being built in Tasmania for European operators
The Driven calls Hull 096 the world's largest battery-electric ship, and says the European boats will be the biggest of their type in the EU. This article does not print a battery size, a speed, or a date for the first paying trip.
Honest caveats
Floated free is not "in service". The article says the vessel will now be commissioned.
"Less than a month" is the only transit time given. There is no departure date and no arrival-day timetable in the piece.
The Middle East delay is a clause, not an explanation. I am not filling that in.
A heavy-lift piggy-back also means this boat did not get to Uruguay on its own batteries. That is a logistics fact, not a failure of the harbour trials. It is still worth saying out loud.
Where it meets a Cat Cruisers
I build trailerable electric boats on the Gold Coast. We charge from shore power and use the boat for camping. There is no Incat or Buquebus partnership here, and a 2,000-passenger ferry is not a Cat Cruisers specification.
What I take from it is the gap between a finished hull and a boat that has done its job. Scale like this needs a shipyard, a heavy-lift passage, and a commissioning period. A small boat still has to earn its range from a plug on the shore.
catcruisers.com.au · 0426 531 750
Sources
1. Joshua S. Hill, The Driven, "Made in Australia: World's largest battery-electric ship completes trip from Tasmania factory to new home in South America", 15 September 2026. https://thedriven.io/2026/09/15/made-in-australia-worlds-largest-battery-electric-ship-completes-trip-from-tasmania-factory-to-new-home-in-south-america/ (accessed 30 September 2026).