Swedish company Candela Launched 30-seater commercial hydrofoil shuttle P-12, this summer — we believe ships will change the course of motorized water transportation. Following the C-7 and C-8 leisure cruisers, Candela is already making waves by pushing the transition to fossil-free waterways.
Gustav Hasselskog, Founder and CEO of Candela, said:
The company has raised SEK 210 million (approximately $20 million). The investment is co-led by EQT Ventures and investor duo Joel Eklund (Fosielund Holding AB) and Svante Nilo Bengtsson (Marknadspotential AB), with participation from Ocean Zero LLC and others. This follows his $24 million round last year.
The P-12 is a motorized hydrofoil that effectively flies above water with a computer-guided hydrofoil. It has a cruising speed of 27 knots and a range of up to 60 nautical miles. Being electric, the P-12 is cleaner, greener and cheaper to operate than traditional diesel-powered aircraft. Candela estimates that the P-12 uses her 80% less energy than conventional ships.
“This is very good for the environment. The shipping industry as a whole is about 3% of total carbon emissions,” says Hasselskog. But like the benefits of being electric, the P-12 is designed for low maintenance and low service costs.
“We use low-maintenance dry drains. We developed this pod motor. This pod motor has no gears, no oil, nothing. Just the motor under water,” says Hasselskog. explains Mr.
If the decision to build a passenger ship with a maximum capacity of 30 people seems a bit odd, it’s designed for coastal, archipelago or lake-based transport, where people actually use water transport. It depends on how you use the .
“Whether it’s Oslo or Stockholm or New York, it looks the same everywhere. Most of these boats are usually 300 passengers. We came to the conclusion that it’s not the optimal boat size, and seat occupancy is usually very low – 5% a year in Stockholm,” says Hasselskog. “If you only have 30 passengers, you only need one crew member. Otherwise, you need three staff members. The operator typically saves about 40% compared to a traditional large diesel set-up.”
Switching to smaller aircraft allows for more flexible deployments, such as operating on demand rather than on a fixed timetable or traveling to more remote locations. According to the company, this will bring significant benefits to operators in the form of cost efficiency.
Candela aims to build on this flexible approach to transportation and is currently developing its own software to enable real-time fleet routing. We are also very excited about the benefits the P-12 will bring to our passengers.
“The first place in the water will be the city of Stockholm. ,” says Hasselskog. “The reason is that it doesn’t create a wake, so it can go faster. Saving travel time for commuters makes a big difference.”
For Candela and Hasselskog, the future looks like a large fleet of smaller ships that are more flexible and can travel farther and faster. It may start in Stockholm, but with a market size estimated at his €15 billion, it has global appeal.
“Our next step here is to take a place like Stockholm. For example, there are currently 35 big ferries in operation. We will replace them with 120 of our own,” he said. says Hasselskog. From there: “This is the global business we envision, and we have interacted with hundreds of customers so far. They spread from Hong Kong to Sydney. We have dialogues in Mexico, Belize, San Francisco and New York.”
The company is betting big that bigger isn’t always better. We hope that the smaller one will be faster, greener, and easier to use.
