Lloyd’s Register to Class Eco-Ferry Trio

Lloyd’s Register (LR) has been chosen to class BC Ferries’ three gas-fuelled ‘Intermediate Class’ newbuildings.

BC Ferries has recently awarded Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. of Gdansk, Poland contracts totalling USD 165 million to build three new ‘Intermediate Class’ ferries.

Bud Streeter, President, LR Canada, said: “This project is the culmination of a great deal of hard work. The outlook is good for LNG in Canada – there is availability of Canadian gas at highly competitive prices, so commercially this is looking like a smart decision for BC Ferries.

Our job was, and will be, to help ensure safety and reliability in the design, build and the bunkering and operation of these ships.

LNG can provide significant environmental benefits and, as BC Ferries is well aware, safety comes first.’’

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,” said Mark Wilson, BC Ferries’ Vice President of Engineering.

‘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.

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Press Release; July 16th, 2014