Spain is the centre of a new project for gas-fuelled shipping. Ferry operator Baleària has recently ordered a »smartship[ds_preview]« and eco-efficient newbuilding at the Sestao-based shipyard LaNaval. According to the companies, the ferry scheduled to start operations on the Balearic lines in 2019 will be »the largest operating in the Mediterranean and among the largest in the world.«
Baleària chose liquefied natural gas (LNG) and solar power as energy sources. There will be two LNG type C tanks, which will be located on deck 1 at the same level as the engine rooms. The solar panels will be located on deck 11 although it is not yet decided how much power the vessel can generate with them. As well not yet defined is the egine’s power and the manufacturer, the yard stated upon request.
The contract has a value of 175mill. €. Baleària, who has a fleet of 22 vessels, secured an option for a second vessel of this type. Besides the agreement, the current orderbook of LaNaval is a RoPax ferry for TESO, a Cable Lay Vessel for DEME/Tideway and two dredgers for Van Oord.
It is not known whether there has been any funding from the European Union or the Spanish government for the environmentally-friendly and eco-efficient ferry for Baleària.
The new vessel will have a length of 232.20m and a beam of 30.40m and will be the first passenger ferry powered by liquefied natural gas in the Mediterranean, LaNaval said. It can reach a speed of 23kn thanks to three dual fuel engines, which can be used either with natural gas or liquid fuel, »and thus allow the company to reduce by more than 40% CO2, NOx, and avoid emissions of sulphur and other particulate matter.«
There will be a capacity for 1,600 passengers (70% of which can be accommodated in cabins and the rest in armchairs), plus 340 vehicles. Regarding cargo, the ship will have a capacity of 3,300 lane metres for trucks. During the loading and unloading operations, an automatic anti-heeling system, consisting of a pump mechanism allowing to redirect the water flow, is available.
A special feature will be the »smartship« approach. According to the partners, customers with their smartphones or mobile devices can access the accommodation, have tracking systems, access to a wide audiovisual technology in entertainment and cuisine on board, information and booking destinations, data navigation, meteorology, and different possibilities to interact with the system and passengers.
For eco-efficiency and innovation matters, Baleària said, it will consider energy optimization of all ship systems. Part of this strategy are the installation of solar panels to power all onboard services, lighting with LED technology, a control system for the air conditioning units as well as the installation of variable frequency PTOs to let ship propellers work close to their optimum design point.
