Ro-Pax ferries to be converted to LNG

By Baird Maritime - August 31, 2018.

Baleària Eurolinea Maritimas – RoPax ferry Nápoles, operated by Baleària Eurolinea Maritimas, will be converted to LNG.

Sister Ro-Pax ferries, the Nápoles and Sicilia, are set to be retrofitted to dual-fuel operation.

Each of the ferries are currently powered by two MAN 9L48/60A main engines, which will all be converted to 9L51/60DF units that will enable running on LNG.

The conversion of the Nápoles is due to take place in Spain between November 2018 and January 2019, while the conversion of Sicilia is to take place from October to December 2019. The work will be carried out by MAN PrimeServ.

The world’s first LNG conversation was to the Wes Amelie, operated by Wessel’s Reederei. The Wes Amelie conversion involved retrofitting the 1,036TEU feeder container ship’s MAN 8L48/60B main engine to a multi-fuel, four-stroke MAN51/60DF unit that enabled dual-fuel operation.

The dual-fuel conversion enabled the Wes Amelie to significantly reduce its SO_x emissions by greater than 99 per cent, NO_x by approximately 90 per cent, and CO₂ by up to 20 per cent. The vessel now meets both the Tier II and Tier III emission requirements set by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

The Sicilia and the Nápoles are operated by Spanish company Baleària Eurolinea Maritimas. The Sicilia operates between Barcelona and Ibiza, while the Nápoles operates between Algeciras and Tangier, Morocco.