Vessel is being built at China's AVIC Weihai yard and will be the third LNG ferry to join the fleet
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Brittany Ferries is to name its third E-Flexer ferry Santoña (pronounced Santonia in English).
Santoña, which is currently under construction at the AVIC Weihai Shipyard in China, will be chartered from Stena RoRo and is expected to start service in 2023. The vessel has been designed as a sister to Salamanca, which will debut in 2022 and sail between the UK and Spain, Both 42,200gt ferries will be powered by LNG to decrease carbon dioxide emissions by around 20% and cut sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and particulate emissions to almost zero.
Santoña will also be one of the largest in Brittany Ferries’ fleet at 215 metres in length, with capacity for around 1,000 passengers and 3,000 garage lane metres for freight vehicles. Passengers will benefit from three decks of boutiques, restaurants, bars and cafés all decorated in a Spanish style.
Spanish energy company Repsol has signed a letter of intent to deliver LNG for both Santoña and Salamanca via LNG storage facilities on the quayside at the ports in northern Spain.
“We’re delighted to be adding another E-Flexer class cruise-ferry to our fleet,” said Christophe Mathieu, CEO of Brittany Ferries. “These are environmentally friendly, capacious and comfortable ships which perfectly suit to our long-haul services.”
Brittany Ferries is also preparing for the arrival of its first LNG ferry, Honfleur, which is currently under construction in Germany. The vessel is expected to begin operations next year on the company’s busiest route – Portsmouth, England to Caen, France.
Energy company Total has partnered with Brittany Ferries to develop an LNG refuelling solution for Honfleur. Containerised LNG will be trucked onboard, lifted into position by onboard cranes and emptied into Honfleur’s fixed, onboard LNG storage tank. The process will be reversed when mobile tanks are empty.
“Brittany Ferries is committed to LNG as the most environmentally friendly fuelling solution currently available for shipping,” said Frédéric Pouget, director of fleet and port operations at Brittany Ferries. “Despite the significant investment made in scrubber technology for our ships, we know that the best way to respect the environments in which we operate, and to exceed emission reduction targets, is to commit to LNG.”
Brittany Ferries has also revealed the name for the ferry that has been chartered to operate the route from Cork, Ireland to Santander, Spain between November 2019 and November 2020. The vessel is to be called Kerry.