By
Rebecca Gibson |
Ferry operator Brittany Ferries has suspended plans to upgrade most of its fleet to run on LNG fuel because it has been unable to gain a temporary exemption from the new January 2015 emission control area regulations.
Earlier this year, Brittany Ferries revealed that to meet new sulphur regulations it would install exhaust gas cleaning systems – known as scrubbers – on three ships and convert three of its newer vessels to operate on LNG fuel. In addition, the operator contracted STX France to construct an additional cruise-ferry, which was to run primarily on LNG and become operational in late spring 2017.
Over the past few years Brittany Ferries has campaigned to convince governments that there is a ‘desperate need’ for operators to be granted a temporary exemption from the new sulphur rules outlined in the revised MARPOL Annex VI.
However, in a statement released this week, the operator said that despite its ambitious plans to go ‘above and beyond’ what is required under the new rules in terms of sulphur, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and particulate emissions, it is unlikely to receive a temporary exemption. Consequently, the preconditions that would have made the plan financially viable have not been met, leaving the company unable to bear the costs that would have been incurred by the planned LNG strategy.
“It is impossible for us to commit to an ecological transition plan that requires such a high level of investment, when, due to the absence of a temporary exemption, we will also incur hefty additional annual costs amounting to tens of millions of euros because we will be obliged to use diesel instead of heavy fuel oil until our ships have been converted,” said Jean Marc Roué, Brittany Ferries’ chairman. “Without the exemption, the economic viability of our LNG programme is in jeopardy and it is my duty to protect the company and its staff at a time when the European ferry industry is confronting numerous challenges.”
Roué added that while Brittany Ferries’ partners have demonstrated the technical feasibility and the environmental benefits of LNG technology it was essential that the line suspended the LNG component of its ‘ecological transition plan’. He said: “It’s a decision I take with much regret and disappointment.”
Despite these difficulties, the company has committed to undertake a wide-ranging transition plan, which will meet or exceed the requirements of the emission regulations. As part of its new strategy, the company will fit scrubbers to the three ships it originally planned to convert to LNG, which will cost around €70-80 million.