Brittany Ferries and Titan LNG sign fuel supply partnership

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Brittany Ferries’ new LNG hybrid ro-pax vessels will be fuelled by Titan LNG biomethane and LNG under a new long-term agreement.

The two newbuild 194.7 metre ferries will serve the Portsmouth to Ouistreham and Portsmouth to Saint-Malo routes from 2024 and 2025. The hybrid ships form part of a fleet renewal alongside LNG-fuelled Salamance which entered service in March 2022, and LNG-fuelled Santoña which will enter service in 2023.

The hybrid vessels will replace 1989-built Bretagne and 1992-built Normandie.

Titan LNG said it plans to refuel the vessels during the normal cargo operation window in port to minimise any impact on schedules. Titan said it will bring additional barge capacity to meet the increased demand in the English Channel, with plans for a Krios series vessel to serve Brittany Ferries and transit between relevant ports.

Alongside the LNG-powered propulsion, the hybrid vessels will have a large 10MWh battery hybrid power system for propulsion and manoeuvring in port, and an 8 MW electric shore connection for charging in ports where infrastructure is in place. Brittany Ferries said the hybrid system reduces noise and gives a smoother ride as well as its environmental benefits.

Titan LNG Business Development Manager, Régine Portocarero, said: “We believe strong partnerships are essential for the maritime industry to successfully decarbonise. Furthermore, thanks to the unique farmer-shareholder ownership structure that underpins Brittany Ferries we see great potential in available stocks for local LBM production.”

Frederic Pouget, Operations and Ports Director as Brittany Ferries, said: “Ships like Salamanca, Santoña and our forthcoming hybrid ships are cleaner today and greener tomorrow. Thanks to LNG, they promise an immediate and significant improvement in air quality and a reduction in GHG emissions. They are greener tomorrow because they can run on fuels like liquefied biomethane (LBM) and, later, future fuels like hydrogen-derived liquid methane, all without adaptations.

“These fuels will slash well-to-wake GHG emissions further. Our new vessels will therefore automatically become greener when these fuels arrive and there is great potential for expanding the development of the LBM value chain with Titan LNG.”

TAGS: Europe