The first LNG fast catamaran ferry is in service

On May 1st, the fast catamaran ferry of the Spanish ferry operator Baleària, named Eleanor Roosevelt, first of its type in the world, entered into service. The maiden voyage connected the port of Denia, near Valencia, with Ibiza and Palma de Mallorca, in the Balearics.

Baleària has announced that the Eleanor Roosevelt will be the fastest ferry in the world, for an investment of 90 million euros. 123 meters long, it is capable of carrying 1,200 passengers, 500 linear meters of heavy vehicles and 250 cars, or 450 cars overall. The cruising speed is 35 knots, the maximum 40. The two LNG tanks give a range of 400 nautical miles.

Construction began in December 2018 at the Armon Gijón shipyard in Spain, which coordinated the project and performed the systems engineering, with the support of the Valencian Cotenaval. Australian Incat Crowther took care of the design; the engines, the propulsion system and the gas system were produced by the Finnish Wärtsilä, while the tests in the canal were carried out by the Norwegian company Marintek-Sintef, with Bureau Veritas as the classification body. The architecture and interior design are the work of the Oliver Design company.

The Eleanor is the seventh of Baleària's ships to use LNG as fuel and two more ships are under construction. Two were built by the Visentini shipyards in Porto Viro, Rovigo. LNG has already enabled Baleària to reduce by 37,000 tons of CO2 from its operations in 2020. It is estimated that Eleanor Roosevelt will reduce carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to eliminating more than 8,900 cars each year.