AG Ems invested about €30 million in the project, which will be completed by the end of April 2015. Expected to serve for “at least 30-40 years,” the ferry will feature a suitable hull form for a speed of up to 20 knots and a dynamic stabilizer system. Its public facilities would be up to cruise ship standards, said the company’s chairman Bernhard Brons.
The new ferry is the first AG Ems ship to be fitted with dual fuel propulsion from the outset. However, the operator is meanwhile retrofitting and converting another ship for LNG operation. The 1,860gt, 78.7m ferry Ostfriesland is being transformed at BVT Shipyard in Bremen for a reported €13 million – work that includes the addition of a 15m stern section to incorporate DF propulsion.
For the Ostfriesland, due back on stream next June, Wärtsilä is delivering two new 6-cylinder W20DF gensets and a gas tank LNGPac which has to put it in the running for the latest engines, according to The Motorship.
