THREE FEET ABOVE the waves, the Candela P-12 sprints across Lake Mälaren near Stockholm, Sweden. With only its hydrofoils cutting through the water, the boat leaves virtually no wake, noise, or emissions—a sea change from the hulking diesel-powered ferries that currently haul commuters through the archipelago that makes up the Swedish capital.

So far, it’s a water-bound fantasy: While Swedish startup Candela is already manufacturing leisure versions of its electric flying boats, the P-12 hasn’t yet been built. Candela CEO Gustav Hasselskog says the boat is in the “design for manufacturing stage” ahead of a November launch that will be followed by a trial next year. The aim is to have the flying ferry form a part of Stockholm’s public transport fleet.

Cutting carbon emissions from ferries is a priority for a city surrounded by water. The city’s existing fleet of 60 ferries emits 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually, making up 8 percent of total shipping emissions in Sweden—and they’re spewing that air pollution in cities, raising public health concerns. “Shipping has to stop using fossil fuel, fast,” says Simon Bullock, a researcher at the University of Manchester’s Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. “For short journeys, electric ships can be a big part of the solution.”

On that point Sweden is ahead of the curve, with Stockholm working toward emissions-free ferries by 2025. Electric ferries have previously been trialed in the Swedish capital, with local authorities testing another model from Green City Ferries alongside the flying P-12. Norway uses electric passenger ferries to tour its fjords, Belfast in Northern Ireland is trialing a similar “flying” style boat, and a project at the University of Plymouth in the UK is converting diesel ferries to electric. That’s good news given that ferries, most of which are powered by diesel, are a major environmental headache: EU data shows ferries represent 3 percent of all vessels but make up 10 percent of carbon emissions, while more than 95 percent of US ferries are powered by diesel.

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