Saudi Arabia's Neom is getting electric shuttle ships that appear to hover over water to transport passengers in its waterways

• Saudi Arabia's Neom ordered eight electric shuttles from Sweden-based Candela.
• The Candela P-12 shuttles are high-speed electric foil ships that sit above the water.
• Candela says the shuttle design allows it to use 80% less energy than conventional ships.

Saudi Arabia's "city of the future" is set to get its own ships of the future — electric passenger shuttles that appear to fly as they move through the water.

Neom, the highly ambitious and controversial development project in northwest Saudi Arabia along the coast of the Red Sea, has ordered eight electric shuttles from Candela, an electric vessel maker based in Sweden, the company said in a statement provided to Business Insider.

Billed as a futuristic, high-tech megacity in the desert, one of Neom's best-known planned features is "The Line," a linear city contained in mirrored skyscrapers that plans to run on 100% renewable energy.

Developers previously said they expected the first phase of Neom to be completed by 2030, though there have been reports of delays.

The vessels Neom contracted for its waterways are the Candela P-12, billed as the world's first high-speed and long-range electric shuttle ship. The shuttles are expected to transport passengers on the Red Sea and in Neom's waterways.

"The P-12 is designed to create zero-emission water transport systems which have significant improvements over traditional water commuting," Gustav Hasselskog, CEO and founder of Candela, said in a statement. "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."

According the company the vessel is also the first-ever electric hydrofoil ship. Hydrofoil refers to underwater fins designed to lift a vessel out of the water. Videos of the Candela P-12 show the vessel high enough out of the water that at some angles it appears to be floating above the water, not on it.

According to Candela, the ship's underwater wings are guided by computers and enable it to use 80% less energy than conventional vessels.

A study conducted at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm found electric hydrofoil ferries emit 97.5% less carbon dioxide during their life cycle than those powered by diesel. [source link]

The ship is nearly 40 feet long, can carry 30 passengers in addition to one crew member, and can travel up to 30 knots.

The Candela P-12, which launched last year, is expected to be rolled out in Stockholm's public transportation system this fall and be delivered to Neom in 2025 and early 2026.