Fincantieri Wins Order for Dual-Fuel Canadian Ferry

A current STQ ferry.

Government owned Canadian ferry company Société des traversiers du Québec (STQ) has announced it has awarded Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri Merchant Vessels a contract worth C$148 million ($147.5 million) to build a dual fuel diesel electric propulsion ferry able to operate on marine diesel oil or LNG.

The contract for the 130 metre, 800 passenger, 180 car ferry was signed in Quebec on July 23 by Georges Ferrah, the President and Director General of STQ and Gabriele Cocco, Executive Senior Vice President of Fincantieri Merchant Vessels.

The company said it represents the first time a vessel in the STQ fleet will not be built in a Quebec shipyard.

The tender for the ferry involved international players with the Quebec Ministry of Transport awarding the contract to draw up preliminary plans for the project's tender to Canadian-Finnish consortium Deltamarin/Navtec in January 2010.

The public tender for the ship's final design and construction took place between January and June 2012 with final delivery of the vessel expected to be in late 2014.

The ferry will be used on the Matane-Baie-Comeau-Godbout route, which employs 115 people and has 1,600 crossings per year transporting more than 200,000 passengers and 116,000 vehicles from Gaspé to North Shore.

STQ's news release says that the ferry plays a significant role in the economy of the region allowing a year round link from the Gaspé to the North Shore which is great for commerce, the tourism, and service industries.

A press release by Fincantieri said "the ferry will be a concentration of technology and innovation, adopting the most advanced solutions in terms of energy saving and low environmental impact."

Georges Farrah said, "I am very happy with the outcome of the very demanding design and construction process for this new ship due to start service in Matane in three years time."

Fincantieri's Gabriele Cocco commented, "From today, as well as the Mediterranean, the Baltic and North Sea, we shall also be present in North America with an extremely innovative product, the first to be used in a region with particular sensitivity to environmental conservation, and which will ensure considerable energy savings and a minimum level of pollution."