On 9th August,
Rederij Doeksen - a Netherlands-based company operating passenger and freight services to the West Frisian Islands - carried out the keel-laying of a second new LNG-fuelled catamaran ferry,
Hull 388, in Vietnam.
The keel-laying ceremony, which took place at the yard of
Strategic Marine in Vun Tao, Vietnam, was attended by representatives of the yard; Paul Melles, director of Doeksen; fleet superintendent Ingmar Holterman and Lloyd's Register.
Doeksen director,
Paul Melles, commented: "Our two new ships are innovative flagships. They feature durable applications such as solar panels and wind turbines and cleaner LNG propulsion. The safety systems are state-of-the-art. They are prepared for everything and are literally ready for the future."
Melles added: "In recent weeks, a start has already been made with the assembly of various sections, which will be merged at a later time. Everything is going according to plan so far and we are very happy."
Last month, on 17th July, the keel-laying ceremony for the first catamaran,
Hull 387, took place.
The US$50 million contract to build the two new vessels was signed with Strategic Marine in April. The design for the exterior and the interior was carried out by
Vripack, whilst naval architect
BMT Nigel Gee is responsible for concept through to production design.
The catamarans are to serve the West Frisian Islands, connecting
Harlingen,
Terschelling and
Vlieland. They are due to enter service in the second quarter of 2018.
The ro-pax ferries will be single-fuel LNG, with both main engines and generators running off the LNG supply. They are designed to carry up to 600 passengers and over 60 cars.
Strategic Marine's chief executive officer,
Mark Schiller, remarked: "We foresee an increased focus in the environmental aspects of marine transportation and LNG emerging as the fuel of choice for vessels and ferries. Our focus on the large ferry market is beginning to reap the desired results with this recent win, as we continue to focus on the vertical chain for aluminum vessels."
Ed Dudson, Technical director at BMT Nigel Gee, said: "Winning this project with Strategic Marine from an international tender process is excellent. This is an incredibly exciting project for us to be working on - to develop these vessels with such low emissions to operate in the Wadensee is a fantastic opportunity. The vessels will be built in aluminium to minimise weight, thereby further reducing emissions. They will be the first passenger vessels to have the new MTU 4000 series gas engine installed. Bow thrusters will be run from stored power, recharged from shore power. At 70 metres long with a 17-metre beam, the vessels will also have a very low operating draft of 2.5 metres to facilitate operating in the Wadensee, an area of particularly shallow water. Manoeuvrability will be excellent with the use of azimuthing thrusters."
