Lloyd’s Register to class BC Ferries’ three LNG-fuelled newbuilds
Lloyd’s Register (LR) will class three new ‘Intermediate Class’ ferries of BC Ferries to be built at Gdansk, Poland based Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. for $165 million, the classification society said in a press release.
The new intermediate class vessels will be the first vessels in BC Ferries’ fleet to operate as dual-fuel capable, using Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) or diesel fuel for propulsion and power. “This is an exciting initiative for BC Ferries that can reduce upward pressure on fares due to lower fuel costs for LNG, and reduce the environmental emissions substantially as LNG is a cleaner and greener fuel compared to current alternatives,” added Wilson.
‘LR Class’ means that the ferries will be required to be built to LR’s Rules, LR’s surveyors will be surveying the ship during construction to check for compliance and, once the ferries have been found to meet LR class requirements and placed in service, LR will survey the ships at regular intervals through their operational lives. In addition, LR’s LNG fuel expertise has been drawn on by BC Ferries to support overall risk management of the project to help ensure the safety of bunkering and all LNG operations.
LR is now working on a wide variety of LNG projects worldwide as LNG-fuelled shipping expands. These newbuilding projects include ferries in the Netherlands, Quebec and British Columbia in Canada; also, a bulk carrier for Swedish principals; car carrier project for Norwegian operators; an ice breaker in Finland; and joint development and investment projects with major shipowners and Asian shipyards, as well as infrastructure related consultancy projects with ports in Asia and Europe.
Last month Lloyd’s Register announced a joint development project with Piraeus, Greece based Capital Shipmanagement and Daewoo Shipbuilding (DSME) for an 18,000 teu LNG-fuelled container ship design, and earlier this month it was announced that LR will class Texelstroom, the new innovative large hybrid propulsion ferry that will operate in the Netherlands. Furthermore, last week it was announced that LR is supporting Portsmouth as the UK port prepares to receive Brittany Ferries’ new large LNG-fuelled ferries.
Lloyd’s Register (LR) is a global engineering, technical and business services organisation wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and engineering. Founded in 1760 as a marine classification society, LR now operates across many industry sectors, with over 9,000 employees based in 78 countries.