VIDEO: LNG fueled Megastar preps for maiden voyage

Megastar was bunkered with LNG for the first time at the newly opened Skangas Pori LNG termina

JANUARY 11, 2017 — Nearing completion at Finland’s Meyer Turku shipyard, Tallink’s new liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueled fast ferry M/S Megastar is scheduled to make her maiden voyage from Tallinn, Estonia, to Helsinki January 29.

She was bunkered with LNG for the first time at the newly opened Skangas Pori LNG terminal on January 4. The terminal, located in theTahkoluoto oil and chemical harbor in the Port of Pori, is Finland’s first LNG terminal.

M/S Megastar is 212 m long and can accommodate 2,800 passengers. The fast ferry will operate between Helsinki and Tallinn at a service speed of 27 knots.

Its two stainless steel LNG tanks are located below deck 3 and have a total volume of 600 cu.m.

“It has been great to participate in the construction of the new-generation LNG-powered Tallink Megastar. Megastar is yet another proof of Meyer Turku being a global forerunner in the construction of LNG-powered ships. Using LNG as a fuel is an efficient way of reducing the environmental impacts of shipping. Hull form design and modeling helped minimize hull resistance – and therefore also minimize energy consumption during operation,” says Meyer Turku Project Manager Kari Toivonen.

“We’re happy that Megastar is now ready for operation and we’re able to supply her with LNG, a fuel that has excellent environmental properties as its sulfur dioxide, particulate, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide emissions are very low” says Skangas Sales and Marketing Director Tommy Mattila. “Thanks to LNG, the engine exhaust gases contain hardly any nitrogen oxides, which are particularly harmful as regards issues such as the eutrophication of the Baltic Sea. We want to offer the shipping industry reliable, safe and efficient LNG bunkerings.”