LNG-powered Wadden Sea Ferry
Hamburg ship supplier Becker Marine Systems GmbH & Co. has initiated the development of a climate-neutral ferry service for Europe‘s coastal waters. The idea to develop an emission-free ferry with very low draught for the shallow European coastal waters evolved from considering how to reduce environmental impact on the precious and fragile Wadden Sea National Parks, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and located along the German coast of the North Sea.
The newly developed “Wadden Sea ferry“ is a design of Ingenieurbüro für Schiffstechnik Ingo Schlüter GmbH & Co. KG and is exclusively powered by environment-friendly liquefied natural gas (LNG) with no particle emissions. The additional purchase of emission certificates makes it possible to offer a completely carbon neutral, “green” ferry service.
Proposed on-board LNG storage
The environmental pollution of the sensitive coastal waters with sulfur oxides and exhaust gas particles will be reduced to zero. The CO2 emission is reduced by 40%, the output of nitrogen oxides even by as much as 90%.
Becker Marine Systems, the classification society Bureau Veritas and the energy provider EON Hanse Wärme GmbH are well-known partners for the Ingenieurbüro für Schiffstechnik Ingo Schlüter. The ferry is designed following the latest environmental guidelines and is about 70 m long and 14 m wide, has a very low draught and transports 250 passengers and 50 cars with a service speed of 11 knots.
The first “Wadden Sea ferry“ will start service in autumn 2013.
(This article compiled using information from Becker marine Systems)
