Americas News
BC Ferries Weighing LNG Engines for New Ferries
As it makes plans to build three new vessels, Canada's B.C. Ferries says it is considering whether to have them operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The three ships, two of which will carry 145 vehicles and 600 passengers each, and the other capable of carrying 125 vehicles and 600 passengers, will replace two existing ferries that will retire in 2016 and handle additional demand.
The company said it intends to acquire LNG-fuelled vessels, but it must analyse responses to its request for proposals before determining whether these ferries should run on LNG.
"While vessels fuelled with LNG are expected to have a higher initial capital costs than those fuelled with diesel, they are expected to have lower overall life cycle costs, which would have a positive impact on fares," the company said.
Putting the total cost for the ships "in the hundreds of millions," B.C. Ferries president and CEO Mike Corrigan told local newspaper the Times Colonist that the company wants to see what premiums shipyards will charge to install natural gas equipment and how much the LNG fuel will end up costing.
"We need to get some certainty on the delivered price of LNG at our facilities," he said.
"It's still a fairly infant market here in British Columbia."
Last year, the ferry operator commissioned a study that concluded converting its ferries to LNG fuel could cut its bunker costs in half.
Speaking at GreenTech 2013 earlier this year, the company's director of engineering services Greg Peterson outlined the challenges of switching fuels away from diesel.
