Rederij Doeksen’s new LNG vessels are on their way to the Netherlands. The SUN RISE left Vung Tau (Vietnam), where the two LNG catamarans were built, on 8 March. The vessels are expected this month in the Netherlands and will, from January 2020, carry out service to and from the Dutch Wadden islands of Terschelling and Vlieland.
These vessels will be the first single fuel LNG ferries in the Netherlands and the very first ships in the world where single fuel LNG engines are directly driven by a fixed propeller.
In 2016, Rederij Doeksen commissioned the Australian firm Strategic Marine to build two new cats. Dutch design agency Vripack signed for the design of interior and exterior.
Both will be powered by the new mobile 16-cylinder single-fuel gas engines MTU has developed. This engine is the first single-fuel high-speed gas engine that can directly and mechanically drive a fixed pitch propeller, with transient acceleration capabilities comparable to that of a typical high-speed diesel engine.
The waste heat recovery system applied to the LNG-vessels (designed by Orcan Energy, Munich) covers the entire energy demand for the intensive operation to supply electric power to bow thrusters when maneuvering in harbour. The result is that using the two efficiency packs means an annual CO2 reduction of 318 tonnes for each – a saving of 260,000 litres of fuel and 462,600 kWh a year.
The project actively contributes to the theme ‘Sustainable development of ports and energy transition’ from the Pioneers program Waddenfonds 2012-2013. The Waddenfonds awarded Rederij Doeksen a subsidy of € 1,207,500 for this new construction project.
