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Solar Ferry – sustainable, super economic boat for champagne cruising  

Agena Marin Solar boat

(Photo credit: Agena Marin)

Created by a Croatian boat building company, Agena Marin, this innovative, eco-friendly boat for up to 12 passengers will be presented at the Biograd Boat Show this week.

BIOGRAD, 19 October 2020 – While many businesses had to stop their production lines, or even shut down entirely during the pandemic year, a boat building company from Croatia, Agena Marin, has been riding the wave of innovation. They have created a fully sustainable, eco-friendly and cost-effective commercial boat in attractive retro lines, named Solar Ferry.

This eye-catching vessel uses only solar and electric power sources have a length of 8.5 metres (27 ft.) and can accommodate up to 12 passengers on board. The boat will be publicly displayed at the Biograd Boat Show (Oct 21 – 25) for the first time, and the idea is to use it for tourist excursions or panorama cruising.

“The historic boat’s line was inspired by the vessels built around the 1920s. I envision Solar Ferry to be ideal for specific tourist offers, such as “champagne cruising” or some other romantic, retro-tours by the lake or sea. You can compare its offering to the horse and carriage ride in cities and parks. However, the boat’s design is not only about aesthetics; it’s also about being economical. In the past, the hull design had to be extremely efficient because, at the time, you didn’t have engines with “unlimited” horsepower. That’s why we used the same hull shape so that the boat can achieve maximum speed and agility running only on sun and electricity,” said founder and CEO of Agena Marin, Mladen Peharda, who continuously develops new boat models and prototypes.

Solar boat croatia

(Photo credit: Agena Marin)

Besides the retro hull and solar panels, the boat’s construction is also economical. It is built with a vacuum infusion technique, using a very light “sandwich” material made of plastic waste. Not only does that reduce the overall weight of the boat; it provides a critical eco-friendly component. Also, the boat uses the regular AGM batteries instead of much pricier lithium batteries, which contributes to its cost-effective feature. The batteries charge very quickly, due to the 1,500-2,000 watts of power delivered by the solar panels. The anticipated boat speed will be 5.5 knots, and the solar roof capacity enables five to eight hours of uninterrupted rides, depending on the speed and load.

“Solar Ferry is a very cost-effective boat without the usual expenses with engine maintenance or gas refills. It also comes at a great price, and the first three buyers will get a fair discount and pay only 40,000 € for the vessel with standard equipment. That is two to three times more affordable than other boats in the same category and length,” said Peharda.

 Agena Marin

(Photo credit: Agena Marin)

Agena Marin is an R&D company that develops new boat concepts and tools, moulds, and other products in the boat-building industry. They are famous for designing and creating a tourist glass-bottom boat, called semiSUBMARINE, exported into 13 countries worldwide (including, Maldives, Seychelles, Greece, Italy, and the Caribbean), as well as for its serial production of mini-catamaran, water taxi boats known as Taxi Cat.

While building a Taxi Cat, Agena Marin developed a modular building system based on vacuum infusion technology. Soon they will present two additional novelties:

  • “Multi-Mission” boat for aquaculture and fish farms, with a multi-purpose hull in 15 metres length, 25 tons of carrying capacity, and a sailing speed of 12-15 knots
  • “Sea Bus” boat; an 18-metre long catamaran that can take up to 120 passengers and achieve speeds of up to 19.5 knots

This year Agena Marin marks its 10th anniversary. Since all of its boats deliver fantastic performance and great commercial results, we are sure Solar ferry is on the same success path. Mladen Peharda said that the company is always ready for new concept developments, so he invites all interested parties, prospects and investors to find him at the Biograd Boat Show or via online channels.

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