Italy’s Caronte & Tourist takes delivery of LNG ferry Elio

LNG-powered Ro-pax ferry Elio has been delivered to its owner Caronte & Tourist Lines in Messina, Italy, under the GAINN4MOS project.

This vessel is claimed to be the first LNG-powered ferry to sail the Mediterranean.

The Italian Ministry of Transport (MIT) within the GAINN4MOS project coordinated the elaboration of the basic and detailed engineering studies of a small Ro-pax LNG powered ferry of Caronte & Tourist Lines.

After completing the engineering studies, the prototype of this LNG Ro-pax ship has been built by the Turkish Sefine shipyard and was delivered on towards the end of October.

This ship will be operating in the Strait of Messina, linking Sicily and Italy mainland.

This vessel is a small Ro-Ro passenger vessel, a double-ended seven-decks ferry designed to operate in EU Class D areas able to carry passengers, private cars, trucks and trailers, with a maximum capacity for 290 private cars, 1500 people and 35 trucks.

The main Wartsila dual-fuel engines will be fed with LNG stored in 150-cbm tanks. Service and maximum speeds are respectively 12.5 and 15 knots.

The ship is Italian flagged and RINA classed with Gas Fuelled notation (IGF compliant),

The GAINN4MOS action, funded by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme, aims to improve the Motorways of the Sea network in 6 Member States (Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Portugal and Slovenia) by carrying out engineering studies on ship retrofitting and/or newbuildings, port LNG infrastructures, bunkering stations throughout pilot projects.