SWITCH Maritime Receives Design Basis Agreement from US Coast Guard for 150-Passenger Hydrogen Fuel Cell-Electric Ferry
NEW YORK, October 21, 2026--SWITCH Maritime (Switch), a leading developer of zero-emission vessels, secured a Design Basis Agreement (DBA) with the United States Coast Guard (USCG) for the SWITCH-150, a 150-passenger hydrogen fuel cell-electric ferry. The SWITCH-150 is a zero-emission vessel that is designed to align with the performance and operating specification that ferry operators have come to expect from diesel vessels, but the only vessel emissions are water vapor.
The SWITCH-150 is powered by an integrated hydrogen fuel cell-electric propulsion and hydrogen storage system that enables the vessel to perform high-frequency, high-intensity ferry operations like an existing diesel vessel. This means parallel service speeds, a daily bunkering schedule, and no need to increase dwell time or alter service to account for vessel charging. Further, the vessel requires no investment in costly and complicated shoreside charging infrastructure and power grid upgrades. Needing only mobile hydrogen refueling equipment, the SWITCH-150 can be seamlessly integrated into an ongoing ferry operation, rather than requiring scheduling changes or a system-wide reorientation, as would be required for a comparably specified battery-electric vessel. The SWITCH-150 was designed by global naval architecture firm, Incat Crowther.
The SWITCH-150 draws directly from the technical, regulatory, and operational framework set by Switch's first vessel, the Sea Change. The Sea Change is the first hydrogen fuel cell-electric ferry in the United States, which began passenger service in July 2024. The Sea Change received its DBA from the USCG in 2020 and its Certificate of Inspection (COI) in 2024, which cleared the vessel for commercial operation. The Sea Change was the first hydrogen fuel cell-electric vessel to successfully move through USCG's Alternative Design Basis Approval Process.
The USCG Subchapter T regulation – the set of rules and standards that governs the design, construction, and operation of passenger vessels with a capacity of 150-passengers or fewer – does not currently include guidance or regulation specifically tailored to hydrogen fuel cell-electric propulsion and hydrogen storage. To ensure that the SWITCH-150 design adhered to USCG standards, Switch and the vessel project team worked directly with USCG to build a regulatory framework that demonstrates sufficient equivalency in safety and risk mitigation. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) approved the Interim Guidelines for the Safety of Ships Using Hydrogen as Fuel in May 2026; these guidelines served as an important foundation for the DBA process for the SWITCH-150, adding more structure to the process while reducing time to approval.