Ferry company puts LNG plans on hold

Earlier this year, the company revealed plans to build a new LNG-fuelled ferry in co-operation with STX France and convert its three newest vessels to operate on LNG. These plans were in response to the MARPOL sulphur emissions regulations which will enter into force on 1st January 2015 in ECAs.

However, Brittany Ferries told GreenPort that the preconditions enabling the plan to be financially viable have not been met, so it’s going with the distillate fuel and scrubber options instead.

Jean Marc Roué, chairman, Brittany Ferries, said: “It is impossible for us to commit to an ecological transition plan which requires such a high level of investment, when, due to the absence of a temporary exemption, we will also incur hefty additional annual costs amounting to tens of millions of euros, due to us being obliged to use diesel instead of heavy fuel oil until our ships have been converted.”

“We have worked tirelessly for a temporary exemption but these efforts have sadly been in vain. Without it, the economic viability of our LNG programme is in jeopardy. It is my duty to protect the company and its staff at a time when the European ferry industry is confronting numerous challenges,” he added.

Now, the company has revised its plan for dealing with the medium-term effects of the ECA rules, which it is understood involves an investment of €70-80m. The vessels, which were planned to be operated on gas fuel will, instead, be equipped with exhaust gas scrubbers to enable them to meet or exceed the new sulphur emissions rules.

“It’s a decision I take with much regret and disappointment,” Mr Roué concluded.

This latest development is likely to have an effect on the city of Portsmouth’s plans to establish the Port of Portsmouth – where Brittany Ferries’ new LNG ferry would have called for LNG bunkering – as the UK’s first LNG bunkering facility and hub.