Seaspan orders two LNG fueled ferries

NOVEMBER 19, 2014 — Seaspan Ferries Corporation (SFC), Delta, B.C., Canada, has awarded Sedef Shipyard of Istanbul, Turkey a contract for the construction of two new dual-fueled (diesel and liquefied natural gas) ferries.

The 148.9 m ferries, both expected to be in operation by late 2016, will accommodate up to 59 trailers. Construction is scheduled to start in early 2015.

Seaspan Ferries Corporation (SFC) operates a drop trailer service between British Columbia’s Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. Currently SFC operates a fleet of short haul, near coastal vessels consisting of three roll-on/roll-off self-propelled vessels and four articulated tug and barge units. The current SFC fleet operates on two different routes, one reaches north from the Fraser River in Delta to Nanaimo, BC, the other reaches south to Swartz Bay. These routes are approximately 40 nautical miles long and require the vessel to transit between fresh water and salt water. SFC vessels are loaded and discharged through one of six ramps operated by the company.

“Seaspan is pleased to partner with Sedef Shipyard to build two new state-of-the-art ferries,” said Steve Roth, Vice President, Seaspan Ferries Corporation. “Today’s announcement demonstrates a clear commitment to our drop-trailer customers through the modernization of an aging fleet.”

“One of Seaspan’s Core Values is care for the environment and we are committed to ensuring the conservation of Canadian oceans and waterways,” said M. Roth. “These new, technologically advanced ferries will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions significantly compared to current alternatives while ensuring the highest level of efficiency, performance and reliability.”

SFC’s contract award follows an extensive and competitive procurement process that included more than 40 shipyards around the world, as well as a thorough analysis of Seaspan Shipyard’s capacity to construct these vessels at its new facility at Vancouver Shipyards.

“Our decision to have a non-Seaspan shipyard build our new ferries was not made lightly, but it was a simple decision based on capacity,” said Jonathan Whitworth, CEO, Seaspan. He added that “for the next five to seven years, our new vessel building capacity will be solely dedicated to the NSPS Non-Combat vessels.”  

“We feel very honored to be chosen as Seaspan’s shipbuilding partner and we will take great pride in building their new ferries,” said Orkun Kalkavan, Board Member of Sedef Shipyard. “The technical side of the project is also a matter of pride due to the dual fuel-LNG hybrid particulars of the vessels, which we feel demonstrate our shipyard’s commitment to building sophisticated and environmentally friendly vessels. The entire shipyard is excited about this project and dedicated to building Seaspan’s ships on-time and on-budget.”

Length over all (LOA) – 148.9 m
Length at water line (LWL) – 145.2 m
Beam – 26 m
Depth – 7.0 m
Max draft – 4.25 m
Max speed – 16 knots
Number of trailers – 59 (1,034 lane meters)
Max displacement – 6,750 tonnes
Propulsion type – azimuthing drives