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. Read more about Utrecht's sustainable mobility approach in CIVITAS MIMOSA.
