New Control Solution for Electric Marine Propulsion

ComAp is expanding its marine portfolio with the electric Propulsion Control System (PCS), a new application for the already established InteliMains 1010 Marine controller. Electric PCS brings an embedded, pre-engineered control solution for variable frequency drives (VFD) in both AC-bus and DC-bus variants, replacing costly custom-made PLC engineering. Electric PCS offers shipbuilders and marine system integrators reliable and preconfigured functions such as flexible speed/torque referencing, controlled start/stop sequencing, breaker control, inbuilt protections, and full integration with power management. 

Built for the shift towards electric propulsion
Electric and hybrid-electric propulsion is growing fast across ferries, tugs, offshore support vessels, workboats, and other diesel-electric or battery-hybrid ships. Until now, controlling this kind of propulsion has meant engineering a custom solution on a general-purpose PLC, a process that is costly, slow, and carries ongoing maintenance risk.

PCS changes that. It runs as a dedicated application on the same InteliMains 1010 Marine hardware ComAp customers already use for power management, delivering pre-engineered propulsion control out of the box.

Key preconfigured functions electric PCS delivers

• Two bus variants — available for AC-bus and DC-bus architectures, covering the most common vessel electrical layouts.
• Flexible referencing — supports both Speed and Torque referencing, so PCS works whether the drive regulates its own speed internally or relies on the controller to close the speed loop.
• Safe start/stop sequencing — manages the VFD state-machine handshake, breaker control, and the VFD’s DC-link/bus pre-charge automatically.
• Native power management integration — automatically evaluates available power and limits the propulsion speed reference to prevent overloading the vessel's running generators.
• Marine-grade protection and modes — includes Shutdown and Slow Stop sequences, along with Semi-automatic, Automatic, and Switchboard control modes for seamless local or automatic operation.
• Additional functions — Troll (fine-manoeuvring) mode, four-stage Power Limitation, and Power Derating.

ComAp’s complete marine propulsion portfolio
PCS for electric motors complements ComAp’s existing propulsion solution for combustion engines with InteliDrive 700 Marine, which supervises any high-speed or medium-speed engine onboard vessels, including both traditional mechanical engines and modern electronically controlled (ECU-based) engines.

Together, the two solutions mean ComAp now supports the full range of marine propulsion architectures from a single automation ecosystem: from diesel-mechanical shaft lines to fully electric, VFD-driven propulsion motors.

Benefits of electric propulsion control for marine integrators
For shipbuilders and marine system integrators, PCS delivers propulsion functions that are ready to configure rather than build from scratch, reducing engineering effort, shortening commissioning time, and lowering project risk. Native integration with ComAp's power management system also means electric propulsion, typically the single largest electrical load on board, can be managed as part of a coordinated approach to onboard load management, alongside other major consumers.

PCS is now available with InteliMains 1010 Marine firmware 1.8.0, enabled via a software key.