Wärtsilä to support Brittany Ferries’ LNG-fueled Salamanca

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä will provide technical support via a long-term service deal for its solutions on the Brittany Ferries’ LNG-fueled RoPax vessel Salamanca.

The parties signed the ten-year agreement in December 2021.

Powered by LNG, the 1,015-passenger ferry’s inauguration takes place on 25 March. Then, it will make its first commercial sailing from Portsmouth, U.K. to Bilbao, Spain on 27 March.

The Salamanca is the first LNG-fueled passenger ferry to operate from the U.K. The vessel’s multi-fuel Wärtsilä engines can also use even cleaner fuels when they become available.

“We have a responsibility to operate as environmentally efficiently as possible and the choice of LNG-fuelled propulsion is in line with this commitment,” says Arnaud Le Poulichet from Brittany Ferries. “The advanced technical support provided by Wärtsilä will optimise the ship’s operational performance, thus further raising its level of sustainability.”

The scope of the service deal includes remote operational support and Wärtsilä’s digital predictive maintenance solution.

The agreement also includes long-term maintenance planning emphasising a fully controlled and optimised maintenance budget.

“We congratulate Brittany Ferries on the inauguration of the ‘Salamanca’, a ferry that is in complete alignment with the maritime sector’s ambitions towards decarbonised operations. The service agreement will ensure that the vessel’s sustainable propulsion solutions will be efficiently maintained so that its carbon footprint is minimised at all times,” said Nicolas Rossi from Wärtsilä.

The LNG-fueled ferry launched at Jingling shipyard in China on 6 January 2021. Swedish ferry operator Stena RoRo delivered the vessel on 30 November 2021. Brittany Ferries chartered it on a long-term basis. 

Stena RoRo has an agreement with the French shipping company for long-term charters of three more LNG-fueled vessels in the Stena E-Flexer series. All are up for delivery from 2023 to 2025.

The Salamanca features two Wärtsilä 46DF dual-fuel main engines and three Wärtsilä 20DF dual-fuel auxiliary engines with gas valve units. Wärtsilä has also supplied two LNGPac fuel storage, supply and control systems, and more.