By
Rebecca Gibson |
Poland-based Remontowa Shipbuilding – one of Europe’s most reputable shipyards – was established in 1945. It built small ships mostly, but it specialised in fishing and naval vessels from 1951 until the late 1990s, when the Gdansk firm began building ro-pax ferries, tugboats, offshore support vessels and container ships.
Now part of capital group Remontowa Holding, Remontowa Shipbuilding is the newbuild arm of its parent company. Fully booked to around the middle of 2015, the yard is negotiating on projects for both long-standing and new customers, with ferries a prominent part of the mix.
“During the past 15 years, we have built nearly 40 ferries of varying shapes and sizes that have been delivered to several European customers,” says Paszkowski. A number have been built for Norwegian client Rogaland Trafikkselskap with the first double-ended ro-pax ferries delivered in 1999. Finnoy accommodates up to 300 passengers and 100 cars, while Sjernaroy and Foldoy can take 45 cars and 200 passengers. All passenger and crew compartments are air conditioned and the saloons are equipped with entertainment facilities.
In cooperation with the Shetland Islands Council in the early 2000s, the shipyard built four ro-ro open-deck ferries to transport passengers and vehicles across Shetland’s coastal waters. In the period from 2001 to 2003, double-ended ro-ro ferry Lurøy was built by the yard to operate between Stokkvågen Onøy, Sleneset and Lovund for Norway operator Torghatten Nord, while two more double-ended vessels – Volda and Eira – were delivered to Norwegian client More og Romsdal Fylkesbatar.
Springboarding from these successes, Remontowa gained a new market in 2004 with Bute and Argyle, two vessels built for Scottish owner Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL). Operated by CMAL subsidiary Caledonian MacBrayne between Wemyss Bay and Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, each ferry has capacity for 450 passengers and 60 cars. “It was a contract that provoked a lot of emotion and comment in Scotland,” says Paszkowski. “CMAL’s decision to have the ferry built in a Polish shipyard was a surprise, but it proved to be the right choice as each vessel was welcomed by the community and improved the quality of service for its customers.” Bute is listed in classification society RINA’s Significant Small Ships of 2005, as is the double-ended ferry Basto III, built for Basto Fosen in Horten, Norway in the same year. Carrying up to 212 cars on two decks, equipped with two controllable pitch propellers and travelling at a maximum 17-knot speed, Basto III serves the Moss-Harten route.
The double-ended theme continued beyond 2005 with ferry Folkestad – a first for Remontowa Holding member Remontowa Marine Design & Consulting – which was built for Norwegian operator Hardanger Sunnhordlandske Dampskipsselskap (the company has since merged with Gaia Trafikk to become Tide).
Accommodating up to 300 passengers and 86 cars or eight trucks on two decks, Folkestad has two azimuth thrusters that are powered by diesel engines to achieve a speed of up to 13 knots.
Next came two 400-passenger ferries, Simara Ace and Siluna Ace, which were delivered to Danish company ACE Link Holding in 2007 and 2008 respectively, transporting travellers between Elsinore in Denmark and Helsingborg in Sweden. A further cooperation with CMAL saw the three-deck, drive-through passenger ferry Finlaggan operating on Scotland’s Kennacraig-Islay route from 2011.
The growing reputation of Remontowa Shipbuilding in the ferry field was cemented through a contract with Norway’s Torghatten Nord to build eight vessels, destined to serve different lines. “We built a total of eight ferries of various propulsions and engine power, destined to serve different lines,” Paszkowski says. “In October 2011 we delivered the first series of two diesel-powered, double-ended ferries operating in the Tromsø region, with the construction of the second series of ro-pax-type ferries completed in December 2011.”
As predictors for the present and just ahead of the CMAL commission, Remontowa turned out four LNG-powered ferries in 2010 for Norway’s Fjord1 MRF, a world pioneer in using natural gas as a ferry fuel.
“We used a unique, gas-electric propulsion system consisting of two main gas generating sets and one powered by diesel oil and two azimuth thrusters,” says Paszkowski. “Nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions reduced by around 90% and CO2 by more than 20% in contrast to conventional diesel-powered ferries.”
Torghatten Nord also took advantage of Remontowa’s gas-fuel expertise, taking delivery of four state-of-the-art ‘green’ ferries between May 2010 and the end of 2012 from the shipyard. “The 390-passenger, 120-car Landegode, Vaeroy, Bodø and Lødingen are each powered by one gas engine to reach a service speed of 15 knots and a maximum of 19 knots,” Paszkowski says. “They operate in difficult weather conditions above the polar circle to serve local inhabitants, tourists and industry and, importantly, comply with emissions regulations.”
More recent newbuilds increasingly meet owner-operator demands for vessels with smaller environmental footprints in response to IMO’s revised MARPOL Annex VI. These regulations enforced sulphur reductions from exhaust gases to 3.5% from January 2012 and progressively in phases to 0.5% by January 2020, with even lower levels stipulated for Emission Control Areas (ECAs).
This article appeared in the Autumn/Winter 2014 edition of International Cruise & Ferry Review. To read the full article, you can subscribe to the magazine in printed or digital formats.