The shipping industry is facing increasing requirements to decrease its environmental footprints. This challenge
is being addressed through the use of alternative fuels and adoption of novel energy sources in advanced
power and propulsion systems. In this paper, an energy management approach is proposed to determine the optimal
split between different energy sources of a vessel with hybrid power generation. The power and propulsion
system of the vessel consists of a gas engine-generator set and a solid oxide fuel cell, both fed with liquefied
natural gas, and a battery. Specific fuel consumption curves and transient capabilities of the engine and fuel cell
are used to determine the optimal split and the battery is used to deal with the fast load transients during heavy
operations and also providing power during low power demanding activities. The performance of the proposed
approach is evaluated for a dredging vessel with a DC power and propulsion system and compared to a benchmark
vessel powered by gas engine-generator sets only. The results indicate a 16.5% reduction in fuel consumption
compared to a benchmark non-hybrid power system and conventional power management.