It has only been a little over a month, but already Seaspan Ferries Corporation is seeing a big difference in its fleet with the arrival of the Seaspan Swift, the first of two new dual-fueled/hybrid (diesel, liquefied natural gas and battery) ferries.
The state-of-the-art vessel, currently docked at Seaspan's Tilbury terminal in Delta, arrived after an eight-week journey in early December that spanned a total of 10,661 nautical miles following its construction in Turkey.
The 148.9-metre ferry, which can accommodate up to 59 trailers, went through a series of regulatory inspections and crew training programs throughout December and early January. The vessel had its first operational test run last Sunday.
"The vessel is in full service with our fleet," said Seaspan vice president Steve Roth.
"We have a few little bugs that we are continuing to work out and we expect the second vessel when she comes over will be able to get into service quicker because she is a twin and hopefully we will have learned a few things from the first one."
The Seaspan Swift, along with its sister ship, the Seaspan Reliant, marks the first vessels added to Seaspan's fleet since 2002.
The Seaspan Reliant is nearing completion and undergoing testing and trials in Turkey. It is expected to arrive in Tilbury at the end of February.
"For us the need was to replace a very old fleet. When you do that it allows us to take advantage of the new technology. The vessels we were running here were 40 to 50 years old," said Roth, adding both vessels will be based in Tilbury.
"The vessels are a bit of a game changer as they are unique in North America and also unique with the fact we are using LNG as the primary fuel, but we also have diesel and a battery component as well, so we really have three fuel sources. It definitely raises the bar, particularly from an environmental perspective because these have a significantly less greenhouse gas footprint then a diesel vessel."
Seaspan Ferries Corporation operates a fleet of seven ferries out of five terminals in B.C. and supplies more than 50 per cent of all cargo to Vancouver Island.
