Total Marine Fuels Global Solutions (TMFGS) has signed a multi-year contract to supply LNG bunkers to Brittany Ferries’ new cross-Channel Roll-on/Roll-off passenger (RoPax) vessel Honfleur. The vessel, due for delivery in June 2019, will be the first English Channel ferry to be LNG powered.
TMFGS has partnered with two other French firms to move LNG by road tankers from Dunkirk to the port terminal at Ouistreham, and then drive directly on to the ferry’s open aft deck. Onboard cranes will then hoist the LNG tank containers into position in cells next to a fixed storage tank at the rear of the superstructure. Once empty, the tank containers will be offloaded during the next call at Ouistreham and replaced by filled units.
The 42,400gt RoPax vessel, incorporates electrical propulsion and LNG dual-fuel machinery. The vessel’s lubrication requirements are covered by Total Lubmarine products. The dual-fuel engine is lubricated using DISOLA M 4015, a marine trunk piston engine oil for 4-stroke high-medium speed diesel engines running on distillate fuel oil, Marine Diesel Oil (MDO) or LNG. The vessel also uses bio-lubes including the BIONEPTAN 100 as its propeller oil and the environmentally friendly marine grease BIO OG PLUS on its Roll-on/Roll-off equipment.
Xavier Pfeuty, LNG Bunkering General Manager at TMFGS, said: “we are committed to solutions that provide the basis for a more environmentally friendly shipping industry. We are therefore extremely excited to be involved with this innovative new project with Brittany Ferries, financed under the GSG programme.”
Christophe Mathieu CEO of Brittany Ferries said: “It is important that we invest in new technologies and new vessels that respect the environment in which we operate. Equally, we must not forget that our customers expect Brittany Ferries ships to be comfortable, relaxing and adapted to the digital age. These objectives are compatible and I believe Honfleur will set a new standard for ferries operating on the Channel.”
The deal for the construction of Honfleur was the first project to be financed under the €750 million (US$853m) Green Shipping Guarantee (GSG) programme implemented in 2016 by the European Investment Bank, the EU’s lending institution, as a means of promoting low carbon investments.
Innovative elements of the Honfleur design and engineering have also received a degree of public funding support through the Investissements d’Avenir (Investments for the Future) scheme, overseen by the French Agency for Environment & Energy Management (ADEME).
Currently under construction by Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft in Germany, Honfleur will provide capacity for 1,680 passengers and up to 550 cars, plus, 64 trailers, or, an all-freight RoRo payload of 130 trailers. She will be assigned to the Caen-Ouistreham/Portsmouth route, Brittany Ferries’ busiest route.