By
Rebecca Gibson |
Canadian operator BC Ferries has applied for permission to convert its two largest ferries – Spirit of Vancouver Island and Spirit of British Columbia – to dual-fuel vessels to save around CAD$9.2 million per year over their remaining 27-year lifecycles.
BC Ferries spent CAD$126 million on fuel in the last financial year, with fuel costs for the two Spirit-Class vessels amounting to around 15% of the fleet total. As such, the two ferries are the largest consumers of fuel in the BC Ferries fleet and the conversion will reduce their cost of fuel by around half.
Spirit of Vancouver Island and Spirit of British Columbia, which operate on the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay route, also carried 28% of total passengers, 23% of total vehicles and generated 38% of total passenger-based revenue in financial year 2014.
“We are well aware that fare affordability is a concern for our customers and operating on LNG, which is approximately 50% cheaper than marine diesel, and is a game changer for BC Ferries,” said Mike Corrigan, BC Ferries’ president and CEO. “We’ve been driving a culture of cost containment in many areas of our business without compromising safety and we are moving forward with LNG conversions, which will help us realise significant environmental benefits and enormous financial savings on our fuel bill.”
As part of the project, BC Ferries will make a number of upgrades to both Spirit of Vancouver Island and Spirit of British Columbia including renewing end-of-life systems; converting the propulsion system to dual fuel; implementing hull, electrical and passenger service modifications; and increasing ancillary services net income
In addition, BC Ferries will use a new low-friction underwater coating to minimise the ferries’ hull drag, reducing total fuel consumption by around 2.9%. The existing hull design, based on hydrodynamic principles from the 1980s, will be modified at the bow and stern to further reduce drag and lower fuel consumption by up to 1.8%. These fuel efficiency initiatives are expected to generate CAD$650,000 of the fuel savings annually.
Spirit of Vancouver Island’s mid-life upgrade and LNG conversion is expected to take place between autumn 2016 and spring 2017, while Spirit of British Columbia will be converted between autumn 2017 and spring of 2018. Requests for contractor bids will be forthcoming.
The plans, which have been submitted to the BC Ferries Commissioner for approval, follow BC Ferries’ July 2014 announcement that it is to build three intermediate-class dual fuel vessels for delivery between 2016 and 2017. BC Ferries expects total savings from LNG for the five vessels to be around CAD$12.0 million per year, based on current fuel price estimates, which will significantly reduce upward pressure on fares.