Polish Remontowa Shiprepair Yard SA. realized the LNG conversion of BC Ferries’ second Spirit-class ferry, ‘Spirit of Vancouver Island’. The ferry departed from the yard, following the completion of a mid-life upgrade (MLU), in late February.
The ‘Spirit of Vancouver Island’ entered Remontowa SA on 15 October 2018. After undergoing modernization, upgrade and machinery conversion, the ship began her voyage across the Atlantic, the Panama Canal and a passage along the west coast of North America to Richmond in Canada.
The ferry is a sister ship to ‘Spirit of British Columbia’ and the second of Spirit-class ferries that had her propulsion system converted at Remontowa SA from traditional diesel to LNG.
The shipyard equipped each of the ferries with four new dual-fuel Wärtsilä 8L34DF main engines and a cryogenic tank. Currently, the ship’s engine room is dual fuel, adapted to be powered both with low-sulfur diesel oil and natural gas (stored as LNG) as the main fuel.
Other upgrades have included i.a. the renewal of navigation and propulsion equipment as well as passenger areas.
A significant amount of pre-fabrication work and procurement took place long before the vessel even arrived and a comprehensive project plan was executed with excellent project management…Finally the attention to detail and quality in the finishing of passenger areas met or exceed my expectations in all respects,
…Mark Collins, President and CEO and Mark Wilson, VP Strategy & Community Engagement, BC Ferries, pointed out.
