AYK Energy, a marine battery manufacturer founded in 2018, is set to unveil what it describes as the world’s first swappable containerised marine battery system at the SMM trade fair in Hamburg in September 2026.

The product, named the Cosmos Marine Battery Container, is claimed by the company to simplify the installation and deployment of battery systems aboard commercial vessels, removing the need for a dedicated battery room and reducing associated engineering complexity and project costs.

AYK Energy founder Chris Kruger said the technology represents a fundamental shift in how marine batteries can be installed and operated: “The AYK Cosmos Marine Battery Container will simplify installation, reduce engineering complexity, lower project costs and speed up implementation. The system also removes the need for a dedicated battery room, which can be a highly complex engineering job and a significant cost.”

According to the company, it is already receiving orders for the battery while it progresses through the class approval process, having completed the new technology qualification (TQ) stage — a structured process used by classification societies to assess whether a new technology is sufficiently mature to proceed to full class approval.

Kruger noted that the system’s design allows batteries to be either swapped between voyages or permanently installed, depending on operational requirements. He explained that the containers can be stacked onshore, charged off-site, transported to ports and loaded onto vessels quickly, with the number of batteries tailored to voyage energy requirements.

“They can then be loaded onto vessels at speed and tailored to voyage energy requirements — perhaps loading dozens of batteries at a time to meet short-sea fully electric requirements in the EU, for example, to help meet EU ETS requirements,” he commented.

The system can also be used to supply temporary hotel-load power to vessels while in port, reducing emissions from auxiliary engines, or as part of a hybrid or fully electric propulsion arrangement.

The Cosmos is said to feature eight independent levels of safety, along with IP67 protection and an A60 fire rating.

AYK Energy is primarily targeting the ferry, ro-pax and passenger vessel sectors with the product, though it is also described as suitable for tugboats, feeder vessels, hybrid commercial craft and other workboats.

“We firmly believe our technology will remove the barriers to electrification, make battery technology easier to adopt, and as a result accelerate maritime decarbonisation,” Kruger remarked.