Wärtsilä to power LNG-fuelled passenger ferry

The contract also includes an option for a second vessel. Wärtsilä claims that it will provide support services to the yard, including integration engineering and on-site consulting, as well as commissioning of the combined systems.

The ‘smartship’ vessel is being constructed for Spain’s Baleària, which serves the Balearic Islands. It will be the first gas-propelled RoRo passenger vessel operating in the Mediterranean Sea, and will enter regular service in 2019. It will be 232 m long and capable of carrying 331 vehicles and 1700 passengers.

Under the contract, Wärtsilä will supply the following:

• Four eight-cylinder Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel main engines.
• Four nine-cylinder Wärtsilä 20DF dual-fuel auxiliary engines.
• The Wärtsilä LNGPac fuel storage and management system.
• Two twin/single out gearboxes.
• Two Wärtsilä controllable pitch propellers (CPPs) with the Wärtsilä ProTouch bridge control system.
• Two Wärtsilä transverse thrusters.
• Engineering, project management and on-site yard support services.

The equipment is scheduled for delivery in mid-2017.

Aaron Bresnahan, Vice President, Sales, Wärtsilä Marine Solutions, said: “Baleària, the owners of this new ferry, appreciate the importance of LNG fuel in providing a cleaner marine environment. Wärtsilä, with a track record of more than 1500 gas-fuelled engines with 16 million running hours, has by far the most experience in dual fuel power and propulsion installations. Furthermore, our capability to assume responsibility for the combined ship systems, plus our strong service support and training facilities were other important considerations.”

Javier Angulo, Deputy Managing Director and Sales Director at LaNaval, added: “In our current order book at LaNaval, we have two vessels that will be powered by dual-fuel engines: a multi-purpose cable laying vessel and this Ro-Pax vessel for Baleària. For both ships, LaNaval has selected Wärtsilä as the supplier of the DF engines, and we have also chosen the company’s LNGPac fuel system. We made this decision based on Wärtsilä’s experience in dual-fuel technology.”

Guillermo Alomar, Baleària’s fleet director, said: “The output power from the Wärtsilä engines will allow the ship to reach a speed of 24 knots. Their technology will enable us to be highly efficient and competitive with our passenger and goods services.”

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/small-scale-lng/14102016/wrtsil-to-power-lng-fuelled-passenger-ferry/