Bureau Veritas to class 10 Portuguese electric ferries
Written by Nick Blenkey
Charging system is centrally located on the vessels, allowing charging on both port and starboard from towers located on the terminal’s floating pontoons.
Bureau Veritas (BV) has won a contract for the classification of the 10 electric ferries under construction at the Gondán Shipyard in Spain for Portuguese operator Transtejo.
Set to enter service between 2022 and 2024, the 540-passenger, all-electric, sister vessels will provide a public transport service on the Tagus River, between Lisbon city center and three different cities on the southern shore of the river.
Passengers will have access to two saloons. The main saloon will have four side doors and will be equipped with four rotating ramps (two on each side). The bridge will provide a 360-degree view.
The 40 meter long GRP ferries will be powered by an all-electric system and will have a catamaran-type hull optimized to make the most of the 2 MWh batteries. ABB’s Onboard DC Grid power distribution system will ensure an optimal delivery of the battery output to the ferry’s subsystems.
The charging system will be centrally located on the vessels, allowing charging on both port and starboard from towers located on the terminal’s floating pontoons. The vessels’ energy storage systems (ESS) are designed for a complete round trip on the longest planned route (using between 20-90% of maximum capacity). In daytime, the vessels will use fast charging (3-4 MW), while slow charging (0.15-0.2 MW) will be used during the night.
The ferries will receive BV Comf-Noise 3 and Comf-Vib 3 class notations, reflecting minimized levels of noise and vibration for passenger comfort. The vessels will also receive the following Bureau Veritas notations: Passenger Vessel, Battery System, C (composites) and AUT-UMS (automated vessel), which provide a tailor-made framework addressing the requirements of these passenger ferries.
“These ferries are the perfect illustration of demand for new urban transportation,” said Mathieu Philippe, Commercial Director at Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore. “Zero-emission propulsion is available today for sustainable and fast passenger ferry transport. We are proud to support this ‘business to business to society’ project, which demonstrates our technical expertise as well as our commitment to shaping a better world.”
