Candela is taking its flying yacht to new heights.
The Swedish yard announced on Monday that a fleet of P-12 electric foilers will be rolled out to the Red Sea starting next year. NEOM, the new tourism destination currently being built off the coast of Saudi Arabia, has ordered eight vessels for its planned water network.
“Unlike legacy systems with large, slow, and energy-inefficient conventional ferries, the Candela P-12 is a smaller and faster unit, allowing much more frequent departures and quicker journeys for passengers,” Candela founder and CEO Gustav Hasselskog said in a statement. “All daily necessities and services will be just a short boat commute away.”
Announced in June 2022 and launched in November 2023, the P-12 is the fourth model in Candela’s fleet, following the C-7, C-8, and P-8 Voyager that debuted in 2020, 2021, and 2022, respectively. (The yard also launched a C-8 Polestar Edition in July.) The zero-emission 39-footer “flies” above the waves using computer-guided hydrofoils that are adjusted 100 times per second to ensure smoothness and stability. Candela says the P-12 uses 80 percent less energy than conventional shuttle ships and will emit 97.5 percent less CO2 during its lifetime than a traditional diesel-powered vessel of the same size.
Equipped with two of Candela’s electric C-POD motors and four 63 kWh batteries, the P-12 has a top speed of 30 knots and a range of 40 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 25 knots. The yacht also creates a minimal wake and is well-suited to coastal cruising. The fleet serving the Red Sea will be able to carry 30 passengers around the northwestern shores of Saudi Arabia.
“We’re extremely proud to provide a vessel system designed with both passengers and the environment in mind,” Hasselskog adds.” Short waiting times, quick connections, and a very enjoyable experience without taxing the environment with wakes, emissions, and noise will revolutionize how we travel on water.”
The NEOM deal is significant for multiple reasons: It is the largest order Candela has received to date and is further proof that tourism is embracing emission-free transportation. Candela isn’t the only company creating electric ferries for commuters, either: Zeam, CAPTN, and Boundary Layer Technologies have all floated similar concepts.
The P-12 will debut as part of Stockholm’s public transport system this fall. The NEOM fleet will then be delivered in 2025 and early 2026.