By
Laura Hyde |
The construction project for Danish ferry operator Scandlines’ new emission-free ferry Futura has entered the final stage at Cemre shipyard in Turkey.
Cemre cut the first steel for the ferry, which will have capacity for 140 passengers and 66 freight units, in April 2022 and completed two weeks of work while the ship was in a floating dock on 10 August. During this time, the shipyard’s team cleaned the bottom of the 147-metre-long ferry and applied silicone paint to reduce friction and also painted the bridge and upper part of the ship white with Scandlines’ green stripe. In addition, the team fitted the forward thruster and cleaned and painted the aft thruster, which has been in the water since the ferry was floated out from dry dock in November 2023.
Cemre also measured both the bitts for the ferry’s automatic mooring system, which must fit exactly in the ferry berths, and the connection to the charging towers in the ports of Rødby, Denmark, and Puttgarden, Germany, to ensure a precise fit. From September 2025, the ferry’s large battery system will be able to charge in just 12 minutes in both ports.
“These measurements must be very precise, as there is very little tolerance; that's why we make them in the dock and not while the ship is moving at the quay,” said Rasmus Nielsen, naval architect at Scandlines.
The ferry has now moved to the outfitting quay, where it will be completely finished ahead of sea acceptance tests (SAT) being carried out on all the vessel’s systems. The ferry will be tested at full load under the supervision of the Danish Maritime Authority and Lloyd's Register.
“The SAT tests last one to two weeks, during which the ship is out sailing, with the possibility of changing crew morning and evening,” said Nielsen. “This way, we can always have the craftsmen and technicians onboard who are needed to make corrections and adjustments, instead of everyone being onboard all the time.”
Futura will be officially christened before it is deployed on the Fehmarn Belt between Puttgarden and Rødby later in 2024.
“We are very much looking forward to putting our first emission-free ferry into operation on the Puttgarden-Rødby route,” said Michael Guldmann Petersen, chief operating officer at Scandlines. “Futura is an investment in the future – for us as a ferry operator in general and, not least, as an important part of meeting our goal of zero-emissions operation of the Puttgarden-Route route by 2030.”