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The government of British Columbia, Canada, has approved funding for a University of Victoria-led ocean research project to retrofit a vessel in order for it to be powered by fuel cells.

The university will use funding provided by the British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to refit the 26.7-metre former Coast Guard vessel Tsekoa II for ocean research in the Strait of Georgia and off the west coast of Vancouver Island.

According to University of Victoria, the refit is set to transform the vessel into North America’s first hybrid fuel cell and plug-in green ship. The vessel will also be extended by 6.6 metres to include a science lab and accommodation for seven crew and up to 11 scientists. It will be used for coastal ocean research and also to service the university’s two ocean observatories, VENUS and NEPTUNE Canada.

It is unclear what kind of fuel cells would be used or what type of fuel they would take. Fuel cells, like batteries, generate electricity from an electrochemical reaction. But while batteries are closed systems that encase all the chemicals involved in the reaction, chemical fuel such as hydrogen and oxygen must be fed into a fuel cell. Products generated from the chemical reaction, such as water, are then released.

The world’s first hybrid ferry using hydrogen fuel, the Hornblower Hybrid, due to be launched later this year, will generate power from a proton exchange membrane fuel cell that turns hydrogen into electricity.

In Europe, the METHAPU project has installed Wärtsilä's WFC20 fuel cell unit onboard the car carrier 'Undine', which is fuelled with methanol.

The university of Victoria hopes the Tsekoa II will be relaunched later this year with a new name, which has not yet been chosen.

Commenting on the funding University of Victoria president David Turpin said "We are very grateful for the continuing support provided by the government of British Columbia. [The funding] will help us transform this ship into a world-class research vessel and a test bed for green shipping technology."

Since 2001, the British Columbia government has committed $1.8 billion to research, and leveraged another $1.3 billion in research funding from other sources. To date, the British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund — the government’s major research infrastructure investment program — has invested over $423 million for research projects in British Columbia.