Utrecht obtains second clean beerboat for city distribution
CIVITAS MIMOSA - The beerboat in Utrecht navigates through the downtown canals to supply hotels, bars and restaurants with (heavy) goods. The first boat is such a success, that a second one will be built this year. This second boat will be a special one: the first electrically driven ship of the Netherlands where even the (off-)loading will be done electrically.
Utrecht obtains second clean beer boatThe shipyard called Bocxe from Delft will build a second beerboat for the city of Utrecht. The beerboat navigates through the canals of downtown Utrecht to supply hotels, bars and restaurants with goods. The first boat is such a success, that a second one is required. This second boat will be a special one: completely electric, without any damaging emissions. On Saturday January 31st the building contract was signed at the VOC-museumship in Amsterdam, in the presence of Utrecht Alderman Robert Giesberts.Already in 1966 the City of Utrecht introduced the first beerboat to save the monumental bridges and roads near the canals from heavy freight traffic. Because of the increased demand for waterborne transport, it was decided in 2008 to introduce a second beerboat. This second boat will be the first electrically driven ship of the Netherlands where even the (off-)loading will be done electrically. An electric crane will rack heavy goods, such as barrels of beer, from the ship to the shore and vice versa. The boat will yearly emit 16,5 tons of CO2 less than regular freight traffic would. This is the equivalent of eleven football fields of forest. The electric beerboat is charged with ‘green’ electricity and can navigate for eight to nine hours at a time. Already earlier, the shipyard Boxce built the electrically powered touristboat called Bredero. This one is navigating in Amsterdam at the moment. The construction of the beerboat for Utrecht will start in April 2009. It will be taken into use in January 2010. The official signing of the building contract took place in the museumship called The Amsterdam, a VOC-ship that transported goods to and from the Far East.The original press release (dated 26-01-2009) can be found hereThe construction of the new environmentally friendly beerboat constitutes an important part of one of the 19 measures that the city of Utrecht will carry out within CIVITAS MIMOSA.
