the ship side above the quay is lowered to reach the shore-side connector. Next, the shuttle bar is locked to the quay-side connector. Then, the chain lifts the power socket up to the ship-side socket. The NG3 PLUG is used Figure 5. The manual connection of two cables for charging the future of the fjords. (Source: Severin Synnevåg; used with permission.) to provide the Color Hybrid with 2.5-MW overnight charging and 6.5-MW afternoon-stop charging. For the two sister ferries MS Aurora and MF Tycho Brahe, the ABB IRB7600, an autonomous robotic arm (Figure 7), is employed to automatically connect cables through a plug into the onboard charging port. It is placed on land, and the connection procedure starts by the robot turning on to be ready for initiating the mechanical connection when the ferry approaches port. It features a 3D laser positioning system for recognizing the onboard receptacles in harsh conditions. Another plug solution, which has been used for charging MF Ampere and MF Elektra, is Cavotec's Automated Figure 7. The ABB IRB7600, an autonomous robotic arm used for charging the MS Aurora and MF Tycho Brahe. (Source: ABB; used with permission.) (a) (b) Figure 6. (a) The typical PLUG structure and (b) the NG3 PLUG used for charging the Color Hybrid. (Source: PLUG; used with permission). IEEE Elec trific ation Magazine / S EP T EM BE R 2 0 2 0 55