Alan Lam reporting

Baleària, the Spanish ferry operator, has just announced that it has signed a letter of intend with LaNaval, the Spanish shipbuilder, to build two LNG-powered ferries. They aim to sign the final contract within two months.

Baleària is investing €350 million in this project. The ships will be the first LNG ro-pax units built in Spain. Moreover, with 225 metres long and 30.4 metres wide, they will be among the biggest ferries operating in Europe and the biggest passenger vessels ever built a Spanish shipyard.

The construction will begin next year and the first delivery is expected in 2018.

The ships will in fact be dual fuelled – LNG and diesel. They will help the company achieving a 30% reduction in over all CO2 emissions from its fleet.

“This investment in new ships demonstrates our strength to grow and become more competitive,” said Adolfo Utor, President of Baleària. “These will be very innovative and technologically advanced ships, not only in terms of their propulsion systems, but also enable us to be more eco-friendly and offering better services.”

José Ignacio Irasuegui, MD of LaNaval, said: “This agreement marks a new milestone for LaNaval. We have secured a new major client in the form of Baleària, with whom we hope to establish a long and fruitful relationship in the passenger shipping market by designing and constructing ships with high tech contents.”

Baleària has been in partnership with Rolls Royce in developing marine LNG engines. LaNaval has just launched a modern ro-pax unit for TESO, the Dutch ferry company.