Wärtsilä Retrofit To Reduce Environmental Impact Of Ferry Operating In Ecologically Sensitive Waters

A retrofitting project will be carried out by the technology group Wartsila. This is to reduce the environmental footprint of a ferry that is operating on the Wadden Sea, which is a UNESCO World Heritage posted area.

The area has high biological diversity and is important for breeding and migrating birds. With the retrofit, the ‘Münsterland’, a RoPax ferry owned by German operator Aktien-Gesellschaft ‘Ems’ (AG Ems), will be able to use LNG as a marine fuel thus, removing the emissions of sulphur oxides and particulates and reducing the emissions of Nitrogen oxide. In July 2019, the order was placed with Wartsila.

At the Koninklijke Niestern-Sander B.V. yard in the Netherlands, the work will take place. The facilities for shipbuilding and repairs are offered by the yard under one roof. These facilities will be used to build an entirely new ship that will be able to accommodate the Wartsila LNGPac fuel storage, supply and control system. The fitting to the new aftship is scheduled to start in September 2020.

Retrofitting project that resembles to this one was done in 2015 on the sister ship of ‘Münsterland, Ostfriesland. That project was a success and thus, became an important consideration for being given this contract.

“There is no greater endorsement of customer satisfaction than repeat orders, and we are delighted to have again been selected to convert an AG Ems owned ferry to LNG fuel operation. The project is fully in line with our Smart Marine approach that emphasises greater efficiency and better environmental performance for customers, as we lead the industry’s transformation into a new era of opportunity,” says Matthias Becker, Managing Director, Wärtsilä Deutschland GmbH.

“Operating our vessels in the most ecologically friendly way possible is of the utmost importance to us. Wärtsilä’s technology is already known to us, so we had no hesitation to contract them again to retrofit the ‘Münsterland’ to allow it to operate without restrictions in the SECA and NECA sulphur and nitrogen oxide controlled areas,” says Bernhard Brons, Managing Director of AG Ems.

Two Wärtsilä 20DF dual-fuel generating sets and a Wärtsilä LNGPac system will be fitted in the ship. Apart from the environmental benefits, the vessel will also help in operataional cost savings and the better vessel efficiency are the expected outcomes of the project. The equipments will commence to be delivered in spring 2020 and the retrofitting is expected to be completed during Q1 2021.

Reference: wartsila