• 09 Jun 2017

On the occasion of the Cnference "Passenger ships, ports and environment" held on June 5 at the Genoa Maritime Station, Caronte & Tourist - the company active in maritime connections on the Strait of Messina and the smaller Sicilian islands - revealed its intention t invest 200 million euros to order 10 new LNG ferries over the next 10 years, with the goal of renewing the fleet by aiming for liquefied natural gas as an alternative fuel. The Sicilian company was the first Italian shipowner to commission the construction of a diesel/ LNG fueled dual-fuel hybrid ferry, which is currently under construction at the Sefine shipyard in Turkey and will be delivered by the end of 2018. The shipowner Lorenzo Matacena said that "gas as a new fuel certainly represents the future of shipping, despite the fact that infrastructure is still to be built in Italy and the bunker regulations are lacking". Matacena also explained this first order was not assigned in Italy because "Fincantieri, who had already experienced hybrid ferries having built in Castellammare di Stabia FA Gauthier for the Canadian company Société des traversiers du Québec, was not interested in a project of about 30 million euros, a modest value compared to its usual standards ".