Canadian Operator Refits Ferry for LNG
Provincially-owned BC Ferries put one of its largest vessels, the Spirit of British Columbia, back in service June 6 after a mid-life upgrade that saw it converted to operate on liquefied natural gas.
The ferry, which operates on the busiest ferry route between Vancouver and Victoria, on Vancouver Island off Canada's west coast, is the fourth in the fleet to operate on natural gas. Three new Salish class vessels, all running on LNG, were placed in service last year as the first passenger vessels in the world to be bunkered with LNG on an open deck via delivery truck.
The Spirit of British Columbia, along with its sister Spirit class ferry the Spirit of Vancouver, which will be converted over the 2018-2019 winter season, will be among the first passenger vessels in the world to be refuelled via LNG on a fully-enclosed vehicle deck.
“The Spirit of British Columbia returns to service with clean technology that reduces both our environmental footprint and cost of operations,” BC Ferries CEO Mark Collins said. “The two Spirit Class vessels consume approximately 16% of our fuel annually. The conversion of our two largest ships in the fleet, along with the introduction of our three new natural gas-fuelled Salish Class vessels last year, goes a long way to improving the sustainability of our operations and affordability for ferry users.”
When both vessels are operating on natural gas, BC Ferries expects to reduce its CO2 emissions by some 12,500 metric tons (mt)/year, the equivalent of taking 2,500 vehicles off the road each year. The Salish class ferries will reduce emissions by about 9,000 mt/yr.
LNG for all of BC Ferries’ natural gas vessels will be supplied by FortisBC, which operates a small-scale gas liquefaction facility on Tilbury Island. It does a dozen or so onboard marine bunkering operations each week and will do its 500th by June 8.
“Natural gas is the world’s cleanest burning fossil fuel and using LNG in deep-sea ships provides an opportunity to significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions and air quality on a global scale,” FortisBC CEO Roger Dall’Antonia said. “In collaboration with BC Ferries, we developed a first-in-the-world proprietary tanker truck technology to deliver fuel while on board the vessel, an innovative solution that helps make it easier for transportation customers to make the switch to LNG.”
(Banner photo of Spirit of British Columbia courtesy BC Ferries)