German postal company DHL is planning to expand its fleet of solar-powered boats in Berlin. The vessels will coast the waterways, delivering Zalando and Amazon packages far and wide across the capital.

DHL boat fleet to expand in Berlin

After a successful pilot period, an extended fleet of solar-powered, yellow DHL boats is set to ride the waves of Berlin's canals and River Spree to deliver post from Spandau to Moabit.

A limited number of the 10,50-metre-long boats have been in operation in the city since October. According to the international company, the boats are silent and produce no CO2 emissions while delivering parcels across Berlin.

The project is part of DHL’s attempts to move towards more climate-friendly delivery methods. Since the company uses around 1.000 electronic delivery cars and bikes, it claims that 50 percent of the delivery methods in Berlin are already CO2-neutral.

“The solar ship complements this offering as another regional project for the capital and demonstrates what we have been focusing on for a long time: sustainable and climate-friendly logistics,” Chief Production Officer Thomas Schneider said in a press release.

Which route will the DHL delivery boats follow?

The company hopes that by expanding its boat fleet, it will also reduce congestion on Berlin’s roads. 

Instead, DHL will go with the flow, with a journey that will begin at its parcel centre near Nauen, Brandenburg. 250 parcels will be delivered from Nauen to the southern port in Spandau, where they will be loaded onto one of the boats and travel along the canal to Westhafen in Moabit.

This journey will take around 100 minutes and once the parcels arrive in Moabit they will be delivered by DHL staff on e-bikes.

Thumb image credit: Deutsche Post DHL / Jens Schlüter / CC-BY-4