BC Ferries informed that the first steel cut for the company’s third new intermediate class ferry took place last week, bringing all three new ships closer to their delivery to B.C. waters.
The three ships capable of running as dual-fuel on either liquefied natural gas or ultra-low sulphur diesel are being built at Remontowa Shipbuilding in Gdansk, Poland and the other two are progressing well, with the construction starts taking place earlier this year, the company said in a statement.
The staggered start mimics the delivery dates, with the first ICF scheduled to arrive in August 2016, the second in October 2016 and the third in February 2017.
BC Ferries said it intends to run the ships on LNG as much as possible, almost completely eliminating SOx (Sulphur Oxides), reducing NOx (Nitrogen Oxides) to a fraction of what of that from diesel fuel and nearly eliminating particulate matter.
The first ICF will replace the 50-year old Queen of Burnaby on the Comox – Powell River route. The second ICF will replace the 51-year old Queen of Nanaimo, sailing on the Tsawwassen – Southern Gulf Islands route. The third ICF will be used to augment peak and shoulder season service on the Southern Gulf Islands route, and provide refit relief around the fleet.
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