Marine and inland waterways
The battery disappears into the boat.
Propulsion and hybrid systems for ferries, tugs, workboats and inland vessels are industrial batteries above 2 kWh. Class approval does not replace the passport.
In scope
What the Regulation asks of your sector.
Every marine battery system above 2 kWh placed on the EU market from 18 February 2027 needs its passport. A system installed on an existing vessel in the EU is placed on the market too, so retrofits are in scope. The system maker or the yard that places it on the market is the operator.
One passport per system, opened by a QR code, with living data. Cycles, remaining capacity and status change over the life of the vessel.
Where the data sit
Who holds what.
The hard point is turning a technical file made of drawings, certificates and test reports into data, and settling the status of retrofits.
- Cell chemistry and origin
- Carbon footprint
- Safety data sheet, UN 38.3
- System design per vessel
- Class certificates
- Test and safety reports
- From the file to data
- Shipowners and charterers
- Yards and surveyors
- Recyclers and authorities
Who is already moving
The first passports are published.
- Feb. 2026Corvus Energy
Leads the maritime use case of the EU-funded BASE project and showed an operational passport at the EU Battery Passport Conference in Lille. Its advice, start with a simplified version rather than wait for certainty.
- 2024 to 2027Navtek and the BASE project
All-electric tugs are the marine pilot of the Horizon Europe project that demonstrates the passport across sectors.
- Dec. 2024Solaris and BVG Berlin
700 kWh batteries delivered with a passport on series-produced buses. The scale of a marine system is not an obstacle.
What changes for you
Three places where the passport counts.
Delivery includes the passport
From 18 February 2027 a system in scope is placed on the EU market with its passport, on a newbuild or as a retrofit.
It enters the specification
Shipowners and charterers already ask for carbon and end-of-life data. The passport will sit in newbuild and retrofit specifications.
The file follows the vessel
A complete passport at delivery keeps the schedule. And a vessel resold later carries the history of its battery.
Working back from 18 February 2027
What has to happen, and when.
One to three months from launch to a published passport, and your cell supplier on the critical path, slowed by the year-end break. Prudent assumptions.
- Before 30 November 2026Supplier request sent
Weeks for the answer, before the year-end break and Chinese New Year.
- Before 24 December 2026Compliance work launched
References listed, template filled, first checks passed.
- Early February 2027Passports published
One QR code per battery, on the product and in the documents.
- 18 February 2027The obligation applies
A battery in scope without its passport cannot be placed on the market.
Working back from the deadline with the prudent assumptions of our retroplanning. Fewer references and cooperative suppliers go faster, twelve configurations and silent suppliers go slower.
The platform, for your sector
Create, manage, share.
- One passport per systemRated values, chemistry, safety and certificates attached, vessel by vessel.
- Living dataCycles, remaining capacity and status updated over the life of the system, without republishing.
- The supplier request kitWhat to ask your cell maker, with the letter in English and Chinese and a dated log.
Next step
Your sector, on one of your references.
Thirty minutes on one of your systems. You see its passport and leave with the list of what is missing.