Maritime Partners closes sale and leaseback refinancing of the Sea Change
Written by Nick Blenkey
Sea Change, the world's first hydrogen fuel cell ferry. [Photo; SWITCH]
Marking its entry into the ferry sector, Jones Act focused financing solutions specialist Maritime Partners LLC has closed a sale and leaseback refinancing of the hydrogen-fueled passenger ferry Sea Change, developed by SWITCH Maritime LLC.
Maritime Partners says the deal is its first in a partnership between it and SWITCH focused on bringing next-generation technology and financing solutions to the aging U.S. ferry fleet.
“This partnership demonstrates Maritime Partners’ continued commitment to innovation, and to expanding our financing solutions into more critical transportation segments of the maritime industry that require capital to renew and future-proof their fleets,” said Dave Lee, VP of technology & innovation at Maritime Partners.
In 2024, the 75-passenger Sea Change, SWITCH’s first vessel, began commercial operation in San Francisco Bay.
SWITCH expects to use the proceeds of the refinancing deal to complete engineering and support the next-phase build cycle, with zero-emission vessels that can meet the same size and performance as the diesel vessels needing replacement in major U.S. markets, such as San Francisco, Seattle, Boston and New York City.
“We’re excited to build on the foundation that we’ve established with the Sea Change and start our next build cycle,” said Pace Ralli, CEO at SWITCH Maritime. “Core to advancing our mission is being able to finance projects on the leading edge of the technology adoption curve, and our partnership and strategic alignment with Maritime Partners helps accelerate that growth trajectory.”
Leveraging technological learning and regulatory frameworks from its first 75-passenger ferry, SWITCH is bringing nearly complete 150- and 300-passenger catamaran fast ferry designs, as well as a larger steel-hull RoPax ferry design, to the U.S. market to help replace aging diesel vessels.
According to recent data, there are more than 800 ferries in the U.S. that are all suitable to be transitioned to electric propulsion, powered by batteries and/or hydrogen fuel cells. The technology is generally applicable to commercial harbor craft, of which there are approximately 4,400 vessels suitable for upgrade to zero emissions.
SWITCH specializes in providing existing operators easier and lower risk ways to adopt next-gen vessels into their fleets by offering a vessel lease along with support services for fueling, crew training, maintenance and more. The Sea Change demonstrates the viability of the technology in commercial operation as part of the public San Francisco Bay Ferry system, paving the way for future deployments.
“We are impressed by the SWITCH team’s ability to successfully execute on difficult design, construction and regulatory challenges, and their work is very complimentary to our work in larger vessel types, such as our projects with e1 Marine. Maritime Partners is here to support the expansion of SWITCH’s fleet of next-generation vessels with financing solutions for U.S. and global ferry operators,” said Austin Sperry, co-founder and president of Maritime Partners.
