By
Alex Smith |
Bluestone Group, a provider of technical services for the maritime industry, has been awarded a contract for plan approval and construction supervision for a new double-headed ferry ordered by shipowners Caronte & Tourist.
The ferry will be built at the Sefine shipyard in Yalova, Turkey, and is expected to be delivered in the first half of 2024. It will be fitted with LNG-ready engines, batteries and solar panels, and will be deployed on the service between the Italian ports of Messina and Villa San Giovanni. The vessel will have capacity for 1,500 passengers, 602 of which can be accommodated in sheltered seating areas.
“We decided to continue in our working relationship with Bluestone Group because we highly appreciate their attention to clean and innovative technologies, which is a priority also for us” said Lorenzo Matacena, CEO of Caronte & Tourist Group. “To build a new vessel that represents the state-of-the-art technology, Caronte & Tourist had again to rely to an international high-profile provider of services such as Bluestone.”
The ship will be the second newbuild supervised by Bluestone on behalf of Caronte & Tourist. It’s team will include a site manager, three supervisors and a technical coordinator, who will use Bluestone’s proprietary software to engage with both the shipowner and the shipyard on plan approval and on-site inspections.
“We are glad that Caronte & Tourist - with whom we already have a consolidated relationship - has trusted us also for this second project,” said Giuseppe Costa, CEO of Bluestone. “We strongly believe that the combination of our experienced site team and our proprietary software will contribute to deliver a very solid vessel.”