From the magazine – Our March issue launches a new regular SWZ|Maritime feature: Engineering the future fleet. In these articles, young maritime talent will tell us what they are up to. Kicking off the series is Pépé Becx, Team Manager of the TU Delft Hydro Motion Team.
This article originally appeared in SWZ|Maritime’s March 2026 issue. It was written by SWZ|Maritime editor Bas Lenferink. Do you think you should be interviewed for the Engineering the future fleet series? Send an e-mail to redactie@swzmaritime.nl.
When you enter the Dream Hall of the TU Delft, you immediately understand where the name comes from. Seven so-called “dream teams” are working on revolutionary projects. With limited funds and only a year to finish the projects, each team operates in an environment that pushes students to achieve the best results.
The goals of these teams vary from building an exoskeleton that allows paralysed people to walk, to developing a liquid hydrogen-powered boat. The atmosphere feels like walking through a research and development department. The team offices surround a central workshop floor at which advanced CNC machines whirr and projects are assembled. This is where dreams are turned into reality.
Also read: VIDEO: Hydro Motion Team reveals 2026 hydrogen boat
Hydro Motion Team
I’m meeting with Pépé Becx, team manager of the TU Delft Hydro Motion Team. Their goal this year: building a foiling liquid hydrogen-powered boat and win the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge. 26 students are working mostly full-time towards achieving this goal. This year’s biggest challenge is making use of the boiled-off hydrogen gas that has to be released from the tanks as the liquid hydrogen heats up.
Pépé is 22 years old and has just finished the Bachelor’s programme Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management at the TU Delft and is now leading the dream team. Hydro Motion was a logical choice for her.
‘I grew up sailing and during my studies I became interested in the energy transition. We learned about the production of for instance hydrogen and these processes interest me. I finished my Bachelor’s in the domain energy and industry and I would like to see industry become more sustainable and green. This team is a nice combination of all. And it is of course a really nice project. Every year, there is a new functioning boat. In the end, it was not a hard choice for me to make.’
The team was founded in 2005 as the TU Delft Solar Boat Team. In 2021, the team made a switch to hydrogen after sailing with solar-powered boats for fifteen years. ‘Hydrogen was revolutionary and the team wanted to pioneer in creating a fully hydrogen-powered boat. There were not a lot of maritime applications of hydrogen at the time.’
The team became world champion with a hydrogen-powered boat in Monaco in 2023. In 2024, the first fully hydrogen-powered North Sea crossing was made. As in 2025, in 2026, the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge is on the agenda again.
‘Last year, we switched to liquid hydrogen from hydrogen gas to have a bigger challenge. The race was a nice choice, because you have to comply with a set of rules. That gives guidelines when developing a new propulsion system with a fuel not used much at this scale. A second reason to participate is the exposure. It is a good place to show what technical developments are possible for the maritime sector.’
MONACO ENERGY BOAT CHALLENGE
Organised by the Yacht Club de Monaco, the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge is a competition called in to life to stimulate the development of sustainable techniques to minimise the environmental impact of the nautical industry. Teams can compete in four classes, the energy class, AI class, open sea class or sea lab class. Hydro Motion participates in the sea lab class. The challenge takes place every year in July.
26 people, one goal
Nine TU Delft studies are represented within the team of 26 students. All with different backgrounds and different reasons to join.
‘The end goal is clear, but personal motivation differs. Some team members want to bring studied theory to life, while others want to inspire by showing what is technically possible. For almost everyone learning to work in a group and achieving the goal is both a motivation and a learning experience. During the year, you can see people’s drive change. The conceptual phase is finished and now we are working on the production of hull and systems. As the project is coming to life, you want it to succeed and to make it work as a team.’
As the team manager, Becx’ tasks differ. ‘One of the things I like about my function is helping everyone in the team reach their full potential. This is different for everyone. I also coordinate communication within the team and spread our story to the world. By this I hope to inspire. If we can achieve our goals within a year as a student team, imagine what the industry could achieve.’
New challenges coming from previous experiences
The boats are iterations of earlier designs, allowing the team to learn from previous experiences. ‘Last year’s boat had some problems with the centre of buoyancy, so it got more attention this year. We also developed a new connected pi shaped front foil. Such a foil reduces turbulency and, thus, improves efficiency. It also allows for banking turns while foiling because it ensures the boat maintains the same height above the water during turns. The iterations are, however, not all trial and error. At the start of the year, the proposed changes get analysed and calculations are made to make the new designs. Previous teams also advise us in our plans.’
Another result of previous experiences is the biggest technical challenge of this year: making use of the boil-off hydrogen gas that is generated when the liquid hydrogen evaporates.
‘Last year was the first year we sailed on liquid hydrogen. We encountered the problem that a lot of hydrogen was lost because it had to be vented off as a gas. This year, we want to capture it and use a second, smaller, fuel cell to turn it into heat. There are bigger boats sailing on liquid hydrogen, but because of scale, the boil-off is not that big of a problem for them. In a small tank, the environment has a lot of influence on the temperature. Increasing temperatures cause a buildup of pressure, so the hydrogen has to be vented. We are the first boat at this scale to use liquid hydrogen, so it’s a new challenge we encounter.’
The project is now in the assembly phase. When the boat is finished, testing will begin in May. Later this year, SWZ|Marime will return to Hydro Motion to see what progress has been made and what other plans future engineers are working on.
ENGINEERING THE FUTURE FLEET
The maritime sector is developing quickly and new technologies arise. New fuels are being implemented in ships, automation plays an increasingly bigger role in all parts of the sector and the rise of AI is changing the way we look at a lot of processes. In this returning feature, “Engineering the future fleet”, we dive into the world of young engineers and find out what they are working on and, more importantly, what is driving them.
Also at the start of your maritime career, or working at a start-up or scale-up? And do you have a story to tell? Contact our Young talent editor, Bas Lenferink, through redactie@swzmaritime.nl.
Picture (top): Pépé Becx: ‘One of the things I like about my function is helping everyone in the team reach their full potential’ (photos TU Delft Hydro Motion Team).
