Inland waterway transport is moving steadily towards lower pollutant emissions. The latest development is the commissioning of the Mannheim, a 200-metre-long cargo vessel operated by Rhenus and equipped with a hybrid diesel-electric propulsion system built around five Paccar MX-13 engines. Manufactured at the Daf plant in Eindhoven and adapted for marine use by the Dutch company Nps Driven, each engine is connected to a generator that produces electricity to power two electric motors. These motors drive the ship’s propellers, delivering a total maximum output of 2,650 horsepower, or 1,946 kilowatts.
The true technological leap lies in the intelligent management of the system, which adjusts the number of active engines and their output according to the route and the cargo on board. When the ship is travelling upstream at full load, all engines operate to provide maximum power; on the return trip downstream, a single engine often suffices. This flexibility results in significant fuel savings and a notable reduction in CO2 emissions. Thanks to an additional battery and a hydrogen-powered energy unit, the diesel engines can be switched off entirely during port manoeuvres or when passing through urban areas, enabling fully electric, zero-emission navigation.
Robert Graf-Potthoff, technical inspector at Rhenus, points out that the Paccar engines require far less maintenance than traditional marine engines, offering greater operational availability. The vessel is set to operate along the corridor connecting southern Germany with the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam. The project stems from an initiative by the German group Rhenus, which decided to invest in a solution that combines high operational performance with environmental sustainability. The vision was brought to life by Vink Diesel, a family-run company based in Sliedrecht in the Netherlands, which was tasked with developing and installing the entire propulsion system based on Paccar engines, which are also capable of running on HVO biodiesel.
