Vripack, the Dutch naval architecture and engineering firm, recently announced the launch of its first 100-percent battery powered passsenger vessel. Yup. A battery-powered barge. The 18-meter (60-foot) boat in question runs on a minimum of 36 and a maximum of 60 batteries, which activate her twin 11-kW EMOD F1112-240Y engines and give her a cruising speed of 10 km per hour. She's outfitted with LED lighting and boasts a galley that can churn out food for up to 50 people.

And yet for all of her technological advances, this battery-powered boat, built by Brandsma Jachten, is in fact quite traditional looking. "The classic details of her exterior are reminders of the historic Irish barges," a Vripack press release states, pointing out "the wooden rubbing strakes and the outside steering possibility with the old-fashioned tiller." Because she's meant to, as Vripack puts it, "whisper herself through the Irish canals," she complies with all the Irish Damage Stability criteria for passenger vessels.