In accordance with the European Environment Agency and the International Energy Agency, shipping operations generate about 34% of the total nitrogen oxide emissions and 11% of the total carbon dioxide emissions produced by the transportation industry. The capacity of fuel cells to reduce harmful emissions makes them a very attractive and environmentally friendly energy conversion system. This work studies the application of a fuel cell–based auxiliary power plant fed with hydrogen on-board an existing oceanographic vessel. The objective is to eliminate emissions at port and to reduce pollution near inhabited areas. In addition, the power plant was sized to propel the ship at low speed reducing the noise emitted to the water during research tasks that require a low noise level. The type of fuel cell chosen is proton-exchange membrane fuel cell and the hydrogen that feeds it is stored in compressed form at 70 MPa reaching a total storage amount of 771 kg. The results show that a solution, as the one proposed in this study, is conceptually feasible. The amount of emissions avoided totals 7.95 t of carbon dioxide and more than 121 kg of nitrogen oxides per mission. Furthermore, the noise levels in the engine room are reduced under 90 dBA allowing a silent navigation mode as well as a noiseless ship at port.
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