CSL Plans to Introduce Five Environmentally Friendly Ships to Canadian Waters in Next Few Years

New generation of greener vessels is setting sail on the St. Lawrence Seaway. Shippers have started to revitalize their aging fleets and will outfit vessels with more efficient, eco-friendly engines and advanced ballast technologies. And they stand to improve their margins, too.

The MV Yukina is the first of these ships. Twelve per cent more efficient than its predecessors, it saves 770 tonnes of fuel a year and releases 2,500 fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide.

“If you’re saving fuel, you’re saving money, and you’re limiting the environmental costs at the same time,” says Paul Pathy, president and co-CEO of Montreal-based Fednav Group, owners of the Hong Kong-built Yukina and one of the largest ocean-going users of the St. Lawrence Seaway. “Regulations are coming in to push the industry to be more environmentally friendly. We think that’s a good thing,” Mr. Pathy adds. “We love to operate at a higher level because it drives out the bargain basement guys.” In 2012 and 2013, the Yukina’s two sister ships will be let loose on the Seaway.

Fednav isn’t the only player in the push to make Great Lakes shipping greener and more efficient. “Fleet renewal must start now to maintain a thriving shipping industry in Canada,” Gerald Carter, president of Canada Steamship Lines (CSL), said.

CSL plans to introduce five environmentally friendly ships to Canadian waters in the next few years. Two lake freighters, or lakers, for CSL’s domestic fleet and one Panamax vessel for CSL International are being built at the Chengxi Shipyard on China’s Yangtze River.

Equipped with EPA-certified Tier II engines like the Yukina’s, these ships share customized hull designs that increase fuel efficiency and manoeuvrability. They also boast reinforced, double-hulled fuel tanks to fortify against spills – an important feature after up to 200 tonnes of diesel leaked from one vessel after it ran aground last summer in Quebec.

Nevertheless, when these new ships first set out, they will be missing one important strand of their green DNA. Inside their ballast wells, which fill with water to keep the vessels stable during ocean voyages, is extra space waiting to be fitted with an advanced water treatment system.

It’s estimated that as many as 3,000 aquatic alien species are transported around the globe trapped in ballast tanks every day. Since 1959, 57 of these unwelcome species have been introduced to the Great Lakes when oceangoing ships released their ballast.

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Source: ctv, August 10, 2011