Balearia’s ferry in first LNG bunkering

Spanish Balearia’s LNG-powered fleet keeps growing as its newly retrofitted ferry Sicilia has completed its first bunkering operation in Portugal.

The truck-to-ship bunkering operation took place on July 19 in the port of Viana do Castelo where Portuguese West Sea shipyard is completing the conversion works on the ferry.

This also marked the first ever LNG bunkering operation in any port managed by the Port Authority of Douro, Leixoes and Viana do Castelo.

To remind, Balearia said in May this year the Sicilia ferry would be ready by the end of July.

The West Sea shipyard started retrofitting the vessel to adapt it to run on LNG earlier this year.

The 2002-built vessel will now sail on two converted MAN dual-fuel engines.

Furthermore, the ferry features one 425 cbm LNG fuel tank enabling it to travel 1,100 miles.

The ship is 186 meters long and has a capacity for 1,000 passengers and 480 vehicles.

Balearia now has six LNG-powered ferries in its fleet, out of which four are conversions and two newbuilds.

The ferry operator plans to have a fleet of nine LNG-powered vessels by the end of 2021 with a total investment of 380 million euros ($442.9m).