Americas News
LNG Emerging as "Prime Fuel for Ferries"
Wärtsilä Corporation (Wärtsilä)'s Wilco van der Linden says two new orders for liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered ferries in Canada demonstrate the "global emergence of LNG as a prime fuel for ferries."
Van der Linden, the company's head of business development for merchant, cruise, and ferry solutions, said the dual-fuel systems used on two Ro-Pax passenger ferries being built for Société des traversiers du Québec (STQ) prove the value of the technology for uninterrupted and safe transportation.
The two ferries, being built by Canadian shipyard Chantier Davie Canada (Davie), will feature Wärtsilä 20DF engines, the Wärtsilä LNGPac fuel storage and treatment system, Wärtsilä electrical power and automation systems, and Wärtsilä's Control & Communication Centre (3C), which integrates bridge control, navigation, and communication control.
"Wärtsilä is a leader in LNG dual-fuel technology and we are very pleased to add the ferries to our working partnership with them, which presently extends across all construction programmes at Davie," said Davie CEO Alan Bowen.
"As leaders in their respective fields, Davie and Wärtsilä are together able to provide the highest quality of products to a broad range of industries from passenger transportation to offshore oil & gas."
The ferries, which will operate between Tadoussac and Baie-Sainte-Catherine on the Saguenay River in Québec starting in 2015, can each carry 432 passengers and eight crew members and up to 115 car equivalent units or 16 tractor semi-trailers.
STQ ordered what is expected to be the first North American ferry powered by LNG last year, with delivery expected in 2014.
