LNG hybrid ferry proposed for German Bight

Dubbed the Wadden Sea (Wattenmeer) ferry, the idea concerns a vessel type that can provide an economically viable, so-called ‘climate-neutral’ service. The project was initiated by the Hamburg company Becker Marine Systems and has been developed in cooperation with Ingo Schlueter Marine Consultants, EON Hanse Waerme, Bureau Veritas and SDC Ship Design & Consult.

The nature of the powering arrangements is such as to offer a 40% reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and a potential 90% curtailment of nitrogen oxides (NOx) relative to a conventional ferry, plus the virtual elimination of sulphur oxides (SOx) and particulate matter (PM).

The envisaged ro-ro ferry would be approximately 71m in length and 14.7m in breadth, drawing only 1.5m when fully-laden with 52 cars or 12 trucks and 250 passengers. The ‘safety first’ approach in the design template is implicit in the level of redundancy offered by a total of six small gas engines in two separate locations, with two electric propulsion motors driving two propellers at one end of the vessel, for a maximum speed of 11 knots.

The promoters say that the LNG-fuelled engines would be of reliable, well-proven type. Three of each would be installed in each machinery room, and these compartments would be positioned some way apart in staggered fashion port and starboard in the midbody of the hull. The respective banks of gas engine-driven gensets would be complemented by a hybrid propulsion battery pack. The ferry would therefore have no diesel bunkers aboard at all.

Rather than using integral tanks, the vessel’s LNG fuel would be drawn from two road tank trailers carried in sheltered locations at the respective ends of the ’island’, or possibly offset, superstructure. The capacity of one LNG trailer would equate to three days’ operation, and trailers would be exchanged overnight.

In presenting the LNG hybrid ferry, the partners indicated that the first priority was to bring the concept to realisation in national park-designated Wattenmeer waters by the autumn of 2013. Becker Marine Systems’ prowess in manoeuvring solutions is especially salient to the needs of vessels serving routes through the region’s shallow tideways and vulnerable eco-system. In the meantime, work is in hand on variants for traffic routes in other European coastal areas. Furthermore, the team is hoping to develop a ferry proposal encapsulating an emissions-free propulsion concept based on 100% renewable energy.