BMT Nigel Gee secures LNG ferries contract

BMT has been selected to design two 70-metre aluminium-hull catamaran Ro-Pax ferries for Rederij Doeksen.  

BMT will be responsible for concept through to production design. Both vessels will be built in Vietnam.

The pair is expected to enter service in April 2018 and serve the Friesland Islands connecting Harlingen, Terschelling and Vlieland in the Netherlands.  

The vessels are single fuel LNG, with both main engines and generators running off the LNG supply.  The aluminium vessels will offer significantly lower emissions than conventional steel and diesel powered vessels, with at least a 30 per cent reduction in CO2 and 100 per cent reduction in NOX/SOX.

 “They will be the first passenger vessels to have the new MTU 4000 series gas engine installed,” said Ed Dudson, Technical Director of BMT. “Bow thrusters will be run from stored power, recharged from shore power.”

At 70 metres long with a 17-metre beam, the vessels will also have a very low operating draught of 2.5 metres to facilitate operating in the Wadensee, an area of particularly shallow water.

With the capacity to accommodate over 60 cars and 600 passengers, the vessels will be designed to interface with existing port facilities, and have wind generators and solar panels to reinforce their environmentally friendly credentials.