  Despite the success of electric vehicles on land, electrification of maritime
ships is challenged by the dilemma of range anxiety and cargo-carrying
capacity. The longer range requires larger batteries, which inevitably eat up
the precious cargo space and weight. This paper breaks new ground by proposing
a coordinated planning model for offshore charging stations (OCSs) and electric
ships (ESs), marking a first in this field. Strategically situated OCS can
partition a long maritime route into several shorter segments, which in turn
lead to smaller batteries and thus larger cargo capacities. The research
analyzed the impact of maritime geographical conditions on the placement and
sizing process and provided insights into the trade-offs between battery size,
cargo-carrying capacity, and the cruising range of different types of
electrified ships. Using real Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, we
estimated the economic feasibility of the Shanghai-Busan high-traffic maritime
route and conducted a sensitivity analysis on factors affecting its economic
viability. The results show that installing OCS can significantly reduce the
propulsion cost compared with ESs without OCS and traditional internal
combustion engine (ICE) ships.
