Brittany Ferries recently announced that it has ordered its largest ferry yet: one of the biggest ships powered by Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) in the world.
The new ferry will be the cleanest, most environmentally-friendly ship to operate in UK waters because LNG emits about 25 per cent less carbon dioxide during combustion than marine fuel oil and burns with no smoke. It is also a safe fuel as it is relatively difficult to ignite. Regulations for vessels stipulate that LNG must be at least as safe a fuel as oil. LNG is entirely free of sulphur and is very low in nitrogen oxide emissions.
Brittany Ferries and ship-builder STX France have been co-operating for two years on a study regarding the feasibility of powering a ferry by LNG. The ship, costing some 270 million euros (£225 million) will be built by STX France in St. Nazaire and she will enter service in late spring 2017.
STX France said that the new ship “Sets major milestones in the field of motorisation and energy storage and opens the way to a new generation of environmental friendly ships”. The company claims that the ‘Dual-Fuel’ engines, using Liquefied Natural Gas as the main source of energy, will eliminate SOx emissions and reduce her NOx emissions by 80% and CO2 emissions by 20% thereby exceeding the new MARPOL exhaust gas emission requirements coming into force next year.
This new ship will replace Brittany Ferries’ current flagship, Pont-Aven, which will move to the Portsmouth - St Malo route thereby providing much-needed freight capacity to this popular service. Operating on the longer routes between UK and Spain, she will have many of Pont-Aven’s features, but with a much larger garage. The latest technology will be applied and free Wi-Fi will be available in every cabin and throughout the ship.
Simon Wagstaff, Group Freight Director, commented: “This order represents a huge investment and a long-term commitment by Brittany Ferries to its highly successful services to Santander and Bilbao. The new vessel will provide significantly more freight capacity to northern Spain and at the same time release Pont-Aven to operate on the Portsmouth - St.Malo service, where current demand for capacity exceeds supply. Furthermore, the range and quality of facilities provided for freight drivers by the new vessel will set Brittany Ferries apart from its competitors.”
Technical spec of the new LNG vessel
- Length: 210 metres
- Width: 32 metres
- Draught: 7 metres
- Gross tonnage: 52,500
- Maximum speed: 24.5 knots
- Dual fuel propulsion capability with marine gas oil as back up
- Number of decks: 12
- Number of passengers: 2,474
- Number of crew: 189
- Number of cabins: 675 including 12 Commodore Suites, 51 Deluxe cabins, 30 pet-friendly cabins,15 wheelchair-accessible cabins
- Garage capacity: 80 freight units plus 325 cars.
Image: The Pegasis