Aditya : The Pride of Kerala, The Pride of India

The first solar ferry of India, known as the ‘Aditya’, is set to represent Asia in the Gustave Trouvé Award as the only entrant from the continent. The magnificent ferry is powered by 78 rooftop solar panels that enable it to achieve a maximum speed of 7.5 knots (I know you are smart and already know this, but still, 7.5 knots equals to 13.89 kmph) without ANY noise at all. Boats, especially smaller passenger ferries, are usually noisy and strong vibrations are a part of the journey for someone who travels on them. But that is not the case with the Aditya, as it is an excellent example of elegance with minimal vibrations.

Apart from the elegant performance on water, Aditya proves to be a pocket friendly means of transport, with energy cost of only 180 rupees per day. Currently operated by the Kerala State Water Transport Department (KSWTD) between Vaikom – Thavanakadavu route in Kerala, the solar ferry is considered as the local icon. Aditya was built by Naval Solar and Electric Boats. The total capacity of the boat for one side trip is 75. The authority states that Aditya operates 22 to 23 trips on daily basis between the two destinations, while covering a total distance of 66 km. The ferry is estimated to have transported around 1.1 million people, covering a distance of 70000 km, since its inauguration in 2017, with, of course, ZERO carbon foot print.

Gustave Trouvé Awards were, as the name suggests, started in the memory of French electric engineer and inventor Gustave Trouvé. With more than 75 patents under his name, the French inventor was keenly interested in electric vehicles. In fact, the Trouve’s tricycle is thought to be the first electric car.

Trouvé made a prototype electric boat back in 1881, which was around 5 m long and reached 4.86 knots (again, I know that you know it already, still, 4.86 knots = 9kmph), downstream. Gustave Trouvé Award is given in three categories,

1) Electric boats up to 8m in length

2) Electric boats more than 8m in length

3) Electric ferry boats

Aditya is selected for the third category, which is, ‘Electric ferry boats’ category.

Hope you learned something new from this article :)