Spain’s First LNG-Fuelled Ropax Ferry

Barcelona’s first LNG bunkeringIndianBureaucracy

At the beginning of this year, Abel Matutes, a Balearia ferry operating between Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca, was fuelled with LNG for the first time. This was Barcelona’s first LNG bunkering, representing an important milestone for reducing emissions in Spanish harbours. The ship was bunkered with LNG from a road tanker in the port of Barcelona.

In 2015 Rolls-Royce signed a collaboration agreement with Spanish energy company Gas Natural Fenosa to develop and install a pure-gas Bergen engine onboard Abel Matutes. Baleària is Spain’s leading shipping company, with a fleet of 20 vessels operating between the Iberian peninsula, the Balearic Islands, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Bahamas, and is committed to developing LNG as a marine fuel.

Abel Matutes is the first reference for a pure-gas engine installation on a European-flagged ferry operating outside of Norwegian waters. The 29,670 tonne ropax ferry, delivered in 2010 from the Hijos de J Barreras shipyard in Vigo, Spain, has been retrofitted with a Bergen C26:33 L6 AG auxiliary gas engine to generate 1,560kWe of clean power, dramatically reducing emissions during port stays in Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca.

The new engine is fully integrated into the electricity plant on the vessel, enabling operation with any of the on-board auxiliaries. When Abel Matutes is in port, the gas engine will be connected to the distribution infrastructure ashore or the onboard LNG tank.