BC Ferries has awarded a $140 million contract to a Polish shipyard to convert two of its vessels to run on liquefied natural gas.
BC Ferries awarded the conversion contrast to Remontowa Ship Repair in Gdansk, Poland. That’s the same company that earlier received the contract to build three new duel-fuel ferries that will be able to run on either LNG or diesel.
The shipyard will convert two spirit class vessels, which currently use diesel, to run on LNG.
BC Ferries says the conversion will not only save money, but will also reduce CO2 emissions.
“Last fiscal year we spent approximately $118 million on diesel fuel of which the two spirit class vessels consumed approximately 16 per cent,” said Mark Wilson, BC Ferries’ vice-president of engineering.
BC Ferries estimates that using LNG instead of diesel on the two spirit-class vessels will reduce CO2 emissions by 12,000 tonnes annually – the equivalent of about 2,500 cars.
The conversion contract was put to an open bid, and while B.C.’s Seaspan initially entered the bidding process, it ended up withdrawing, as it is too busy with a federal shipbuilding project.
The conversion contract is being partly subsidized by Fortis BC Energy Inc. which will provide up to $10 million to help with the conversion. Although BC Ferries has not yet signed a contract with FortisBC to supply the ships with LNG, it is expected the company will supply BC Ferries with LNG from its new LNG plant on Tillsbury Island.
