Veer to pick shipyard for first 100% zero-emission ocean-going boxship

The Bahamas-based maritime startup Veer is one step closer to deploying the first clean containership to cross an ocean as it will soon select a shipyard to commence the construction process.

Veer’s pioneering solution is a wind-powered containership with auxiliary fuel cell propulsion that utilizes green hydrogen as fuel and DynaRig sails. The company’s breakthrough first ship design, ‘Design Nº1’, will be the first absolute zero-emission containership capable of crossing an ocean.

As informed, the company has secured €50 million Letter of Intent (LOI) to finance the design and construction of these revolutionary ships and has received bids from five capable European shipyards.

Veer plans to award construction to a shipyard in the coming weeks and enter into an LOI with the winning shipyard.

At this time, Veer is announcing the launch of a Series A investment round and welcomes investors seeking to meaningfully contribute to the transformation of shipping.

“Utilizing non-carbon-emitting power sources is the future of shipping. This is what Veer is all about and that is why I am inspired to work with Veer to achieve this objective. Veer is all about bringing non carbon emitting vessels to the commercial shipping industry in a viable business manner. Applying alternative means of propulsion and fuels coupled with optimized ship design for the intended service are what inspire me to work with Veer to collectively achieve this goal,” Scott McClure, Owner & Naval Architect at Alan C. McClure & Associates and the lead naval architect for Veer’s first ship design, commented.

“My motivation for building Veer’s ‘’Design Nº1’’ is primarily aesthetic- When the sails are set, Veer will be the most beautiful ship on the ocean. The wind and hydrogen power will quietly and effortlessly propel her forward. I am also motivated by the technology involved, to understand, develop and make widespread the clean and silent sailing rig and hydrogen propulsion technology at the heart of Veer,” Elliott Tulloch, Senior Master Mariner at Brookes Bell, and the project manager for Veer’s first ship design, said.

‘Design Nº1’ has been selected by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) as an exemplary vessel used in two industry studies, one on wind propulsion and one on hydrogen propulsion.

Veer’s first fossil-free solution is a series of 100-meter containerships powered by hydrogen fuel cells combined with wind for increased speed and range. Veer intends to provide a fast and clean container shipping service to a market struggling with the notoriously hard-to-abate shipping sector.

By leveraging first-mover advantage, Veer said it will deliver “solutions that markets and governments are waiting for”. This momentum will be scaled, fed by a pipeline of innovative solutions developed and patented by the company.

In October 2022, the Freeport-based company received Approval in Principle (AiP) from the classification society American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for its zero-emission ship project.