MF Tycho Brahe

M/F Tycho Brahe is a Danish battery-electric car-ferry owned by Øresundslinjen that operates on the HH Ferry route. It has been in use since 1991. The ship is bidirectional, which means it can change direction without turning around, so no time is lost for this. The ship is also able to accelerate and decelerate quite quickly to and from her maximum speed of 14 knots.

Tycho Brahe in 2007
History
Name	1991 onwards: Tycho Brahe
Operator	1991-1998: DSB 1998 onwards: Scandlines
Port of registry	1991 onwards: Helsingør,  Denmark
Builder	Langsten Slip & Båtbyggeri, Tomrefjord, Norway
Yard number	156
Launched	19 January 1991
Identification	IMO number: 9007116[1]
Status	In service
General characteristics
Tonnage	11,148 GT[2]
Length	111.20 m (364 ft 10 in)[2]
Beam	28.20 m (92 ft 6 in)[2]
Draught	5.50 m (18 ft 1 in)[2]
Installed power	Electric
Propulsion	4×1.5 MW
Speed	14.5 knots[2]
Capacity	1,250 passengers 240 cars

For other uses, see Tycho Brahe (disambiguation).

The ship is named after the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. M/F Tycho Brahe was built by Langsten Slip & Båtbyggeri in Tomrefjord, Norway. The ship is owned and operated by Øresundslinjen. Between 1991 and 1997, M/F Tycho Brahe was owned by DSB Rederi.

The ferry can carry 1250 passengers, and either 260 trucks, 240 cars or 9 passenger train coaches at one time. It was built with three railtracks inside, with a total length of 266 meters.

Conversion to electric

M/F Tycho Brahe has a sister ship, M/S Aurora af Helsingborg. The two ships were originally diesel-powered, but were converted in 2017 to full electric propulsion. Each ship has a 4 MWh battery, weighing 57 metric tonnes, located at the top of the ferry between the chimneys.^[3] The batteries are recharged from land by a robot arm when docked,^[4] at 10.5 MW (10.5 kV, 600 A) for 6 minutes in Denmark and 9 minutes in Sweden. Each trip uses about 1,175 kWh and is scheduled to last 20 minutes similarly to the diesel ferries.^[5] Two of the four Wärtsilä-Vasa 6R32E diesel engines have been removed from each ship, with the other two as a backup system, not for daily operation.^[6]

Main specifications:

• Length: 111 m/364 ft 2 in
• Beam: 28,2 m/92 ft 6 in
• Draft: 5,7 m/18 ft 8 in
• Tonnage: 12000 gt
• Machinery: 4 thrusters of 1.5 MW each, 4.1 MWh Li-ion batteries.^[7] Backup system: two-shaft, diesel, 3350 hp

• Tycho Brahe after conversion
• 
  Tycho Brahe in 2018
• 
  Batteries on top
• 
  Tycho Brahe in 2019

Gallery

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References

1. Faktaomfartyg.se "M/S Tycho Brahe", accessed 21 April 2011
2. "Tycho Brahe". www.scandlines.com. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
3. Moore, Rebecca (9 January 2020). "ForSea Ferries battery conversion: a 'big little journey'". Riviera. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. The batteries are placed in four containers between the chimneys. The 640 water-cooled lithium Ion battery modules have a total weight of 57 tonnes, with a total weight for the installation of 270 tonnes.
4. "Two massive ferries are about to become the biggest all-electric ships in the world". 24 August 2017.
5. "Sustainability". ForSea Ferries. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019.
6. "89 tonn batterier i verdens største el-ferge". 27 June 2016.
7. "Electric Ferry".

• The Encyclopedia of ships. General editor: Tony Gibbons. Silverdale books, 2002, ISBN 1-85605-591-4. Page 216.

External links

Media related to Tycho Brahe (ship, 1991) at Wikimedia Commons

• M/F Tycho Brahe
• Forsea ferries
• Fully charged show on electric ferries
• Electrek: Two massive ferries are about to become the biggest all-electric ships in the world