Cruise & Ferry Review - Spring/Summer 2021

9 3 Notable ferry orders up to 2023 Designed by OSK-ShipTech, the 220-metre-long ro-pax vessels will use different energy sources throughout their life if these are available in New Zealand. From day one, they will have technology for battery operations when docking and plug into local power supply at each port. They will each have a capacity for 1,900 passengers and 3,600 lane metres of freight with the main deck configured to load up to 40 18-metre-long rail wagons on six tracks. Meanwhile in China, construction of the last two of five E-Flexer ferries for Stena Line is underway at the CMI Jinling Weihai Shipyard. The third vessel, Stena Embla, arrived on the Irish Sea in January, joining the first two, Stena Estrid and Stena Edda. Stena RoRo’s E-Flexer for long-term charter to DFDS, Côte d’Opale, will undergo sea trials in May ahead of her introduction between Dover, England and Calais, France in summer. Tailored for the 90-minute crossing, she differs from previous E-Flexers having, for example, a much larger retail space with 1,100 square metres in an open plan concept. The shipyard is also working on another E-Flexer for Brittany Ferries, the LNG- powered Salamanca, which was floated out of her building dock in January 2021. She is a sister of the recently introduced Galicia and will be followed by the last vessel in the series, Santoña. Not yet an order, but one to watch is the project for a 100 per cent hydrogen- powered DFDS ferry, initially slated for the Oslo-Frederikshavn-Copenhagen route in Scandinavia. A group of companies have partnered up in order to develop the vessel which will be powered by electricity from a hydrogen fuel cell system that emits only water and can produce up to 23 megawatts of power. “The largest fuel cell systems today produce only one to five megawatts, and the development of such large-scale fuel cell installations for an electric ferry is a monumental task,” says Torben Carlsen, CEO of DFDS. “We can only succeed in partnership with companies that bring together some of the globe’s finest expertise in design, approval, building, financing and operation of innovative vessels.” In addition to DFDS, the partnership committed to achieving this includes ABB, Ballard Power Systems Europe, Hexagon Purus, Lloyd’s Register, Knud E. Hansen, Ørsted and Danish Ship Finance. “Together, we expect to be able to make these fuel types and technologies commercially viable, which is key to a transition of the industry to climate neutrality,” says Carlsen. “This is also the ultimate goal of DFDS’s climate action plan.” The vessel has the working name Europa Seaways and is designed for 1,800 passengers with capacity for 120 trucks or 380 cars. If the project develops as predicted, the ferry could be in full operation on the route as early as 2027. Elsewhere in Europe, Greece’s Attica Group has signed an agreement with Norwegian shipbuilder Brødrene Aa for three 150-passenger high-speed catamarans to replace the old “Flying Dolphins” that have served destinations in the Saronic Gulf for more than 40 Operator Vessel Yard Pax Cost Del. estimate Viking Line Viking Glory Xiamen Shipbuilding 2,800 $229m 2021 Algerie Ferries Badji Mokhtar III Guangzhou Shipyard International 1,800 $175m 2021 TBC 1 high-speed craft Incat Tasmania 1,200 -- 2021 DFDS Cote d’Opale CMI Jinling Weihai Shipyard 1,000 -- 2021 DFDS 2 ro-pax Guangzhou Shipyard International 600 -- 2021 Stena RoRo E-Flexer 7 CMI Jinling Weihai Shipyard 1,200 -- 2022 Stena RoRo E-Flexer 8 CMI Jinling Weihai Shipyard 1,200 -- 2022 Brittany Ferries Salamanca CMI Jinling Weihai Shipyard 1,000 -- 2022 Attica Group 3 passenger catamarans Brødrene Aa 150 -- 2022 Seaworld Express Ferry 1 high-speed craft Incat Tasmania 700 -- 2022 TT-Line 1 ro-pax CMI Jinling Weihai Shipyard 800 -- 2022 BC Ferries 1 ro-pax Remontowa Shipbuilding 600 $74m 2022 Tallink Grupp My Star Rauma Marine Constructions 2,800 $298m 2022 Molslinjen Express 5 Austal -- -- 2022 Onorato Armatori Group Moby Fantasy Guangzhou Shipyard International 2,500 -- 2022 Onorato Armatori Group Moby Magic Guangzhou Shipyard International 2,500 -- 2023 P&O Ferries 2 ro-pax Guangzhou Shipyard International -- $310m 2023 Finnlines 2 ro-pax CMI Jinling Weihai Shipyard 1,100 $322m 2023 Brittany Ferries Santoña CMI Jinling Weihai Shipyard 1,000 -- 2023 Isle of Man Steam Packet Company Manxman Hyundai Mipo Dockyard -- -- 2023 “ Despite the pandemic, we have largely been able to stay on schedule” Mark Woodward, Isle of Man Steam Packet Company