Germany's MAN PrimeServ has won what it says is the first contract to convert two ro-pax ferries to dual-fuel operation.
Work on Spanish owner Balearia Eurolineas Maritimas' 24,400-gt sisterships Napoles and Sicilia (both built 2002) will take place in Spain between November this year and December 2019.
They are currently each powered by two MAN 9L48/60A main engines, which will all be converted to 9L51/60DF units capable of running on LNG.
Thomas Spindler, head of upgrades and retrofits at parent MAN Energy Solutions, said: “We showed – with the conversion of Wessels Reederei’s Wes Amelie containership – that operational MAN engines can successfully be converted to LNG operation with a tremendous effect on exhaust emissions and the environment."
Balearias director general of operations, Ettore Morace, said the move “is a strategic line for the company based on the use of liquefied natural gas and other clean energies as well as fleet eco-efficiency”.
He added that LNG helps reduce carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) by 30% and nitrogen oxide (NOx) by 85% in addition to eliminating sulphur and particle emissions.
The 1,036-teu Wes Amelie (built 2011) was converted by retrofitting the MAN 8L48/60B main engine to a multi-fuel, four-stroke MAN 51/60DF unit, a world first, according to MAN.
