ROS is joining Cargill andOfiin operatingKotug’selectric-powered pusher vessels along Dutch inland waterways
KotugInternational’s latest all-electric pusher vessel,MNO-e, has started operations for Dutch group ROS, transporting dry bulk along inland waterways in the Netherlands with zero emissions.
ROS, a Rotterdam-headquartered specialist in sand extraction and transport, is using Kotug’s E-Pusher M vessel, which features an energy storage system (ESS) and outboard thrusters.
Designed by Kotug,MNO-e was built in a modular format by Padmos Shipyard in the Netherlands in 2025 with Hydromaster propulsion and EST-Floattech’s containerised ESS. Similar electric-propulsion pusher vessels have been constructed by the shipyard to Kotug’s E-Pusher M design to transport cocoa on barges in the Netherlands by Cargill and Ofi.
ForMNO-e,EST-Floattechsupplied a battery system consisting of Octopus Lite moduleswith a total storage capacity of 1.68 MWhin a high-cube container.The batteries arefast charged through a plug and cable linked to a megawatt charging system (MCS) that ROS was still building in November 2025,which isthe first in the greater Rotterdam area.
“The push boat can sail entirely on electric power, without noise pollution or CO2 emissions”
ROShascompleted several trial voyages withMNO-ein Rotterdamandwill use it to transport sand on barges between theMaasvlakteand Rotterdam.
EST-FloattechworkedwithKotug,system integratorGebhard Electroandconnectivity specialist Sea & Shore to design and customiseitscontainerisedOctopus ESS to power the propulsion and auxiliary systems. This included integrated fast chargers for alternating and direct current and the RotterdamMCS.
