Canadian ferry operator British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. (BC Ferries) is to convert two of its largest vessels to dual-fuel liquefied natural gas (LNG) propulsion.
The ferry operator has awarded Remontowa Ship Repair Yard S.A. (Remontowa Shipbuilding) in Gdansk, Poland with a $140 million contract for mid-life upgrades on two Spirit-Class ships which includes the conversion of both ships to dual-fuel with propulsion with LNG.
The capital cost for the conversion to dual-fuel LNG propulsion will be partly financed through funding received from the FortisBC Energy Inc. (FortisBC) Natural Gas for Transportation (NGT) incentive programme.
The company is hoping that the switch to LNG will deliver CO2 emission reductions to the tune of 12,000 tonnes per year. This is equivalent to removing 2500 automobiles off the roads annually.
BC Ferries also hopes to reduce fuel costs through the switch to LNG, due to the lower cost of LNG fuel compared to marine diesel. They outlined that in 2016 they spent approximately C$118 million on diesel fuel, of which the two Spirit-class vessels consumed approximately 16 per cent.
The conversion process of the Spirit of British Columbia will take place between late-2017 and spring-2018. Whereas the conversion of the Spirit of Vancouver Island will take place between late-2018 and spring-2019.
