Italian Firm Takes on LNG-Fuelled Ferry

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday July 13, 2021

Italy's Caronte & Tourist Isole Minori has ordered a ferry designed to run on natural gas as a bunker fuel.

Engineering company Wärtsilä is set to supply the main and auxiliary engines and the fuel storage and supply system for the dual-fuelled ship, the Finnish firm said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. The equipment is scheduled for delivery to the Sefine shipyard in Turkey early in 2022, and the ferry is due for delivery in 2023.

The ship will be capable of carrying 800 passengers and up to 115 cars, and will mostly operate between Milazzo and the Aeolian Islands.

"The flexibility of our dual-fuel technology is important for ferry operators because of the importance of redundancy," Giammario Meloni, senior sales manager at Wärtsilä Marine Power, said in the statement.

"Should, for any reason, LNG be not available, the engine can switch to a conventional fuel in milliseconds, and the ferry schedule remains uninterrupted."