World’s 2nd dual-fuel fast ferry enters service

On July 10, 2024, Spanish ferry operator Baleària added ‘the world’s second fast ferry with dual gas engines’, the Margarita Salas, to the Barcelona-Alcúdia-Ciutadella route.

The incorporation of this catamaran allows Baleària to increase its high-speed seats on the Barcelona-Alcúdia-Ciutadella route by 50% and double the number of vehicles on the route while reducing its carbon footprint, as natural gas reduces both C02 and nitrogen oxide emissions and completely eliminates sulphur and particulates.

Baleària has invested €126 million in this vessel which can carry 1,200 passengers and 425 vehicles.

The newbuilding was handed over to the Spanish shipping company by local shipbuilder Armón Shipyards on July 5, 2024.

“More than 20 years ago we arrived in Barcelona with the aim of providing a high-speed connection between the city and Mallorca and Menorca. Now, with this innovative fast ferry we are increasing our competitiveness, as we can transport more passengers, in greater comfort and with more services, all year round and with much lower atmospheric emissions thanks to our commitment to cleaner fuels,” Adolfo Utor, President of Baleària, commented.

Utor noted that the new catamaran is the shipping company’s eleventh to be equipped with dual gas engines, a versatile technology that allows it to sail using a range of fuels, such as natural gas, at present, and renewable carbon-neutral sources in the future. Margarita Salas builds on the innovation and sustainability of its counterpart Eleanor Roosevelt.

“This innovative fleet allows us to use the fuel that is currently available and reduces emissions, while at the same time placing us in a leading position in terms of the goal of decarbonisation by 2050,” Utor remarked.

The shipping company calculates that the Margarita Salas will avoid the emission of almost 13,000 tonnes of CO2 each year, 22% less than the fast ferry that has been operating on the route to date. On top of this, as the new ship has a larger passenger capacity, the tonnes of carbon dioxide per passenger will be halved.

The new fast ferry will connect Barcelona with Alcúdia and Ciutadella on a daily basis all year round.

As for the ship’s technical characteristics, it is 123 meters long and 28 meters wide, and has four dual natural gas engines, which allow it to reach a cruising speed of 35 knots (10% more power than the first ship in the series). The ship is equipped with two liquefied natural gas tanks, enabling it to sail 400 miles on gas and have a total range of 1,000 miles. In addition, the Margarita Salas has a stabilization system to reduce movement and improve comfort, as well as an elastically floating superstructure and high-tech insulation to minimize vibrations and noise.

It also has an onshore power supply (OPS) system to connect it to the shore-based electricity supply during its stays in port, and measuring equipment to monitor real fuel consumption and calculate engine efficiency, among other functions. These sensors provide real-time information to enable efficient sailing and to adjust the speed and course to increase comfort according to the sea conditions.

According to Baleària, the name of the vessel is a tribute to the biochemist Margarita Salas, a benchmark in Spanish science in the field of molecular biology research.

International experts (Wärstilä, Incat Crowther, Bureau Veritas and Marintek-Sintef) and national partners (Cotenaval, Oliver Design and Jorge Belloch) were involved in the construction of this sustainable catamaran, which received funding from CaixaBank and European Union Next Generation Funds, as part of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM).