Polish Remontowa Shipbuilding yard, part of Remontowa Holding has laid the keel for the construction of the fourth Salish-class LNG-fueled vessel for BC Ferries.
The yard noted that due to the effects of the coronavirus, the event was a technical one taking place without shipowner representatives.
Remontowa noted in its statement that the contract for the construction of the became valid in December last year and the first steel was cut in February. Launching is planned for mid-November this year, and the yard is set to deliver the vessel in 2021, the statement reads.
The 107-meter Salish Class vessel will have the capacity to carry at least 138 vehicles and up to 600 passengers and crew. It will allow for the retirement of the Mayne Queen, a diesel-fuelled vessel. It will operate, together with the Queen of Cumberland, on the Swartz Bay – Southern Gulf Islands line in the province of British Columbia in western Canada.
The ship will be powered by three Wartsila engines and electrically propelled by Schottel thrusters at each end, driven by an efficient gas-electric power plant.
The agreement with Remontowa is a design-build, fixed-priced contract that provides BC Ferries with substantial guarantees related to delivery dates, performance criteria, cost certainty and quality construction. The total project budget, which includes financing and project management costs, is approximately $92.3 million, BC Ferries said in an earlier statement.