When the early diesel engines were reliable enough to be used as ship propulsion in 1903/04, they were still non-reversible. At this time electric power transmission was the only method to overcome this basic technical problem. The first marine diesel-electric application worldwide was the Russian river tanker "Vandal" commissioned in spring 1903. Diesel-electric propulsion was improved in the following decades. Today, modern power electronics have made it possible to fully utilise the "power station" concept and to make power generation on-board even more efficient.