Americas News
BC Ferries: Game Changing LNG Bunkers will Save Us Millions
The president and chief executive of B.C. Ferries Tuesday told local media that liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a "game changer" for the firm, which operates 35 vessels in 17 classes throughout that province's coastal waters.
Mike Corrigan made the remark in the wake of the April 10 construction start of the second of three new B.C. Ferries LNG-powered vessels at Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. in Gdansk, Poland, a project worth $165-million.
The ferry is expected to be delivered in October of 2016 and will replace the 51-year-old Queen of Nanaimo.
The three intermediate-class vessels will have the ability to use low-sulfur diesel in addition to LNG, and this combined with two Spirit-class ferries currently being converted to LNG is expected to save the Corporation millions in fuel costs, according to Corrigan.
"Obviously, liquefied natural gas is our game-changer," he said.
Construction on the first intermediate-class vessel began in January with anticipated delivery in August of 2016; construction of the third ferry will begin early July for delivery in February of 2017.
Each ferry will be 351 feet long, carry 145 vehicles and 600 passengers, and be in service for approximately 40 years.
Corrigan remarked that the new vessels "will not only reduce our impact on the environment, but will also bring us one step closer to standardizing our fleet for better inter-operability on all our routes. Having these new ferries that are the right size for their routes will create greater efficiencies and save costs."
In February FortisBC announced it had agreed to supply BC Ferries with 300,000 gigaJoules of LNG per year for the next 10 years.
