“Flying Ferry” Candela P-12: An Effort to Shape the Future of Water Transportation

Stockholm is an archipelago of 14 islands and is connected by 57 bridges. The capital city of Sweden has long been home to marine transportation.

It’s not a bird or a plane. It’s a flying ferry! Three feet above the water, the Candela P-12 flies across Lake Mälaren near Stockholm, Sweden. With just the boat’s hydrofoils cutting through the waves, it leaves virtually no noise or emissions. The revolutionary invention transforms the current marine transportation within the archipelago. 

The Flying Ferry: A Water-Bound Fantasy

While Sweden-based startup Candela is already manufacturing recreational versions of its electric flying vessels, the P-12 has not yet been built. Candela CEO Gustav Hasselskog reveals the boat is in the design for manufacturing phase ahead of a scheduled unveiling in November, followed by a trial in 2023. The goal is to have the flying boat be part of Stockholm’s public transportation fleet.

Reducing carbon emissions from ferries is a priority of the Stockholm local government. The city’s existing fleet of 60 ferries recorded an emission of 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually, which accounts for 8 percent of Sweden’s total shipping emissions. Air pollution in cities raised public health concerns. 

“Marine transportation has to stop using fossil fuel, fast. That is why electric ships can be a powerful solution for short journeys,” says researcher Simon Bullock of the University of Manchester’s Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research.

Efforts Towards Reducing Carbon Emissions 

Stockholm is striving toward emissions-free ferries by 2025. Electric ferries have previously been tested in the Swedish capital, with local authorities testing another model from Green City Ferries and Candela’s revolutionary P-12 ferry. 

Norway has electric passenger ferries to tour its fjords. Belfast in Northern Ireland also tests a similar “flying” style boat. In addition, a project at the University of Plymouth (UK) is converting diesel ferries into electric models. 

However, Candela thinks there is more to cleaning up Stockholm’s commuter traffic than emissions-free energy. This can be done by making ferry operators quick enough to persuade more people to ditch cars. Hasselskog points out the following scenarios: 

• Traveling from Tappström to central Stockholm takes 50 minutes by car during rush hour. The P-12, on the other hand, can hit 30 mph and could navigate the waterways between the two in 25 minutes.
• Waxholmsbolaget, the agency that operates public transport boats in Stockholm, carries 1.2 million passengers annually, compared with 780,000 commuting trips by other forms of public transport each day in the city. In short, there’s room to get more Swedes in the sea.

Addressing the Challenges

The concern with powering any form of transport with electricity is it requires heavy batteries. That’s a problem for boats, as they suffer drag in the water. To address this, Candela uses hydrofoils, legs extending down into the water and acting like wings, propelling the boat into the air as it picks up speed like an aircraft during takeoff.

 “The foils are fully retracted in the harbor, so they’re protected. “But then you lower the foils and move the throttle, then it flies. The control system allows the entire takeoff sequence. It works like an airplane, Hasselskog says.

A super fast flying ferry sounds like a surefire way to lose your breakfast on the morning commute. Still, the Candela has sensors that feed into an automated control system to adjust the height, roll, and pitch up to 100 times per second to ensure a smooth ride regardless of the weather. Hasselskog also said that a control system could eliminate any vertical movements of the boat. 

The said features of Candela P-12 will utilize less energy per passenger than a hybrid electric bus and travel faster than a car. And in return, it could bring down fuel and maintenance costs by about 40 percent. P-12’s ability to glide above the water makes it less disruptive to the local environment both above and beneath the water.

Not all cities can use waterways as highways like this. However, it could be a promising idea for coastal conurbations. Competitor flying ferry-maker Artemis has an ongoing trial for a version in Belfast. Meanwhile, Hasselskog has talked with authorities in Istanbul and the Middle East. Representatives from the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA), which runs ferry services in the San Francisco Bay Area, have visited Stockholm to witness how the Candela P-12 works.

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