Baleària starts third ferry LNG retrofit

Spanish shipping company Baleària has started the LNG engine retrofit works on its Bahama Mama ferry at Gibraltar’s Gibdock shipyard.

According to the company’s statement, the LNG engine retrofit is scheduled for completion in mid-January 2020.

Baleària added that once completed, Bahama Mama will become the company’s fifth vessel capable of running on liquefied natural gas as fuel.

The works consist of the installation of two LNG storage tanks as well as the LNG engine retrofit. The two fuel tanks will be located at the stern area of the upper deck and will have the capacity to hold 140 cubic meters of the chilled fuel each.

The retrofit is part of the company’s project that will see it running nine vessels on liquefied natural gas over the next two years. In addition to the three newbuilds, of which two are already in operation, namely Marie Curie and Hypatia de Alejandría, Baleària is looking to retrofit six vessels.

Currently, two vessels have completed the retrofit process, Nápoles and Abel Matutes, while Bahama Mama is set to join in January 2020. In addition, three other retrofits on Martin i Soler, Sicilia and Hedy Lamarr over the next year.

The total investment of these six retrofit operations will be about €72 million ($79 million), 20 percent of which will be paid through the CEF funds of the European Union.