Damen to build four new BC Ferries hybrid-electric Island class ferries
Written by Nick Blenkey
Photo: Damen
Last month, the BC Ferry Commission authorized BC Ferries to procure four new hybrid-electric Island class car/passenger ferries along with associated shoreside electrical upgrades at the terminals they serve. Yesterday, BC Ferries announced that it had awarded the shipbuilding contract to Damen Shipyards, the builder of its previous six Island class vessels, which will construct them at its Mangalia, Romania, shipyard.
Damen says that the contract was won in a competitive tender process that attracted many international bidders and that the vessels will be based on its double-ended Island-class RoRo 8117 E3 model. Each will be capable of carrying up to 47 vehicles and 390 passengers. Battery packs with a capacity of 2,000 kilowatts will supply the electricity for the power trains. Rapid recharging using renewable electricity will take place while the ferries disembark and embark their passengers and vehicles at each end. Each vessel will also have auxiliary diesel engines installed for back-up and general redundancy.
Plans are to operate the new vessels exclusively in battery-electric mode, using renewable BC Hydro electricity and the shoreside charging equipment will also be supplied by Damen. This will be Damen’s fourth installation of this kind, the first also being in Canada, in 2021, to support two hybrid Damen ferries delivered to the Ministry of Transportation, Ontario. These were followed by projects in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Dordrecht, the Netherlands.
“The new hybrid electric vessels will further standardize our fleet, both increasing capacity and improving our flexibility to move ships across routes so our passengers can have confidence that we’ll get them where they need to go,” said Nicolas Jimenez, BC Ferries’ president and CEO. “Adding more Island class vessels will also make it easier to deploy crew, create efficiencies in training costs, and promote safe, reliable and environmentally conscious ferry services up and down the coast.”
Leo Postma, Damen’s area director Americas, added: “We are very excited and extremely pleased with the award of an order of four more Island Class type vessels for BC Ferries. We have been working alongside the technical staff at BC Ferries for seven years now and together we have developed a series totaling ten ferries that are highly efficient; meeting all the future requirements of safe, reliable and sustainable waterborne public transport.”
The four vessels are scheduled to begin operations by 2027 with two vessels each on the routes connecting Nanaimo Harbor and Gabriola Island, and Campbell River and Quadra Island.
The Island class vessels that currently serve these routes will be able to be redeployed to increase capacity on other. Specifically, the Crofton to Vesuvius route will see capacity increased by 20% along with increased frequency provided by two-vessel service. The Quadra to Cortes route capacity will increase by about 70% through the deployment of a larger vessel, and the existing system relief vessel will be redeployed to the Denman to Hornby route year-round, doubling its capacity and particularly improving travel certainty throughout the year.
The new vessels will also create the potential for an additional seasonal capacity increase from Salt Spring (Fulford Harbour) to Swartz Bay. The project also supports having a standby relief vessel in place, which can help maintain service levels during refit periods on all routes serviced by Island class vessels.
