BC Ferries awarded a contract to Remontowa Ship Repair Yard of Gdansk, Poland to convert two Spirit-Class vessels to dual-fuel.
Under the mid-life upgrade agreement worth $140 million, Remontowa will convert the vessels to be able to run on LNG, BC Ferries said in a statement on Thursday.
The conversion works will start in 2017 with the first ship, the 1993-built Spirit of British Columbia. Works on the vessel are scheduled for completion in the spring of 2018 while the 1994-built Spirit of Vancouver Island’s conversion is scheduled to start in fall 2018 and end in the spring of 2019.
BC Ferries intends to run the vessels for another 25 years following conversion on the Tsawwassen – Swartz Bay run, the busiest route in the fleet.
Additionally, safety systems on both vessels will be upgraded, including the marine evacuation systems, rescue boats, fire detection system, public address system and installation of a local water mist fire protection system as well as an interior design refresh, BC Ferries said.
Renewal work on navigation and propulsion equipment components will also be done during the MLUs.
The company signed a deal with FortisBC to receive up to $10 million as a part of the Natural Gas for Transportation incentive which will be used to partially offset the capital cost of converting the vessels to dual-fuel.
LNG World News Staff