Abel Matutes, Baleària’s third LNG-fueled vessel starts operations. The ship experienced a change of engines in recent months, and is joining the new-build smart ship Hypatia de Alejandría and the also converted Nápoles, which are already operating with this cleaner fuel.
The Abel Matutes ( see also CruiseMapper) covers the València-Ibiza-Palma route and at the end of the month it will join the Huelva-Canarias route, where the Nápoles LNG-powered ferry is currently sailing.
The main engines of the Abel Matutes ferry, which has already completed the sea tests with satisfactory results, were replaced by two MAK 9M 46 dual fuel engines, which allow it to sail with both natural gas and fuel oil. In the conversion works, which lasted five months, two LNG tanks of 178 cubic meters each were installed. This will allow the ship to have a range of about 1,000 miles.
Abel Matutes was the first passenger ferry in Spain to sail with auxiliary natural gas generators in 2017. This project, which began in 2015, was Baleària’s first contact with natural gas navigation, being today the pioneer shipping company in the use of LNG as fuel.
The conversion process was carried out thanks to the LNGHIVE2 Green & Smart Links project, co-financed by the CEF program of the European Commission. By 2021 Baleària will have nine ships powered by LNG: six converted and three new-build.
Source: Baleària