Recharged and Ready: MAGPIE’s E-Tower demonstration paves the way for clean, battery-powered ships
Conference/JournalMARIN Report 148
Date10 Sep 2026
A major step has been achieved in the MAGPIE (sMArt Green Ports as Integrated Efficient multimodal hubs) project, showing how large vessels can safely connect to an offshore charging tower in typical shallow water North Sea conditions.
A major Horizon 2020 project, MAGPIE brings together ports, research institutes, and industry partners and aims to accelerate the development of smart, green, and low-emission ports by 2050 to support the Paris Agreement. Developed by Bluewater, the offshore E-Tower is a mooring and charging concept, allowing vessels to shut down their engines and draw renewable electricity while waiting offshore. The virtual reality and full mission bridge demonstration was led by the MAGPIE consortium partners MARIN, Bluewater and Van Oord. MARIN’s role was to assess the feasibility and operational limits of the E-Tower concept in the Seven Oceans Simulator centre, combining full mission bridge simulations, motionbased training, and immersive virtual reality to replicate realworld offshore operations.
A major Horizon 2020 project, MAGPIE brings together ports, research institutes, and industry partners and aims to accelerate the development of smart, green, and low-emission ports by 2050 to support the Paris Agreement. Developed by Bluewater, the offshore E-Tower is a mooring and charging concept, allowing vessels to shut down their engines and draw renewable electricity while waiting offshore. The virtual reality and full mission bridge demonstration was led by the MAGPIE consortium partners MARIN, Bluewater and Van Oord. MARIN’s role was to assess the feasibility and operational limits of the E-Tower concept in the Seven Oceans Simulator centre, combining full mission bridge simulations, motionbased training, and immersive virtual reality to replicate realworld offshore operations.
Contact
Jaap de Wilde
senior project manager | team leader
Hafizul Islam
project manager
Tackling a hidden source of maritime emissions
Although shipping is one of the most carbonefficient modes of transport, its absolute global emissions are not insignificant. Global shipping emits more than 850 million tonnes of CO₂ annually, and a surprisingly large share comes from vessels idling at anchor. At any moment, more than 6,000 ships are waiting outside ports worldwide, running auxiliary engines to power onboard systems. The E-Tower concept directly addresses this issue by enabling vessels to connect to clean offshore electric power, eliminating emissions during waiting times or offshore operations.
Visual representation of the operation
MAGPIE WP5 Demo E-Tower Simulations
Within the MAGPIE (sMArt Green Ports as Integrated Efficient multimodal hubs) project we show how large vessels can safely connect to an offshore charging tower (E-Tower) in typical shallow water North Sea conditions. To assess the feasibility and operational limits of the offshore E-Tower solution, MARIN conducted an extensive three‑day simulation campaign at the Seven Oceans Simulation centre. The e‑SOV (electric Service Operation Vessel) bridge was placed on MARIN’s Large Motion Simulator, allowing captains to experience realistic vessel motions while manoeuvring towards the E-Tower.
Tags
offshore operationsoffshore engineeringoffshore energy