VESSEL REVIEW | Saint-Germain – Luxurious French-designed passenger ferry for the Caribbean

China-based ODC Marine has just delivered the Saint-Germain, a new 167-passenger ferry for Archipel Ferries that will operate within the Guadeloupe archipelago, an overseas region of France in the Caribbean.

The operator was looking for a comfortable and well-finished passenger vessel able to provide a high level of service even under difficult sea conditions.

The vessel will augment the services provided by the vessel Archipel 1, which offers a daily sailing between Guadeloupe Saint-François and the island of La Désirade.

It will allow the owner to offer a more stable continuity of its current service, increase the quality of the service, and reduce its fuel consumption per passenger. It will also offer the operator the possibility of developing new lines in the region.

The vessel is compliant with a Caribbean local regulation named SCV that makes it possible to offer services to other flag islands with a French flag.

The aluminium vessel is 24.41 metres long and 6.5 metres wide, and was designed for a speed of 20 knots fully loaded.

Saint-Germain is powered by two Moteurs Baudouin 12M26.2 V12 main engines with a cylinder capacity of 31.8 litres, delivering 1,200 horsepower (800 kilowatts) at 1,950 rpm. The entire propulsive line is by the ZF Group and comprises ZF 3050A gearboxes and five-blade propellers. A Quick MC2 stabiliser is installed on board.

ODC Marine said that increasing the levels of comfort onboard, both measurable and perceived, was the biggest challenge in building the vessel. This involved reducing noise and vibration levels and adding the stabiliser, all while controlling for weight and fuel consumption per passenger.

Soundproofing was designed by the French acoustician Jean-Philippe Delhom using Pyrotek and Saint Gobain products. Flexiteek 2G decking helps with soundproofing, and also adds to the high-end feel of the ferry.

For passenger comfort, a Cummins 27 kVA generator powers a Frigomar air conditioning unit of 170,000 Btu. Springfield Marine provided the VIP seating in canvas indoors and aluminium outside. A Marinelec monitoring system ensures the safety of the vessel.

Saint-Germain was also designed and built to have a reduced environmental impact, via the aluminium hull and aluminium decorative panels, the chosen paints and coatings, and its optimised hull design.

The “connected monitoring system” encompasses bilge monitoring, navigation lights, service and battery packs, tank monitoring (diesel, fresh and black water), diesel engine monitoring, GPS monitoring, insulation monitoring, and vertical structure acceleration monitoring. Innovative and unique for a vessel this size, the system was developed with Marinelec and provides a great safety overview while helping to optimise both the vessel’s sailing and maintenance.