Wärtsilä to equip Poland’s first LNG-powered RoPax ferries with dual-fuel engines
Finnish technology group Wärtsilä has secured a contract with Remontowa shipyard in Poland for supplying engines, fuel storage and supply systems for the country’s first LNG-powered RoPax vessels. The three ships will be operated by ferry companies Unity Line and Polferries. The key factor in signing this contract was the efficiency of the Wärtsilä 31DF dual-fuel engines.
Each RoPax ferry will be equipped with four highly efficient Wärtsilä 31DF dual-fuel engines that can use bio-LNG, either on their own or blended with conventional LNG, to further reduce its carbon footprint. “The Wärtsilä 31 engine represents the latest engine technology available and this, coupled with Wärtsilä’s vast experience in LNG solutions, made the choice easy for us,” said Grzegorz Wardzyński, technical director of Polsteam, the parent company of Unity Line.
All three vessels will have an overall length of 195 metres and will be capable of carrying 400 passengers, with 4,100 lane metres for trucks and semi-trailers. They will run between Świnoujście in Poland and the ports of Ystad and Trelleborg in Sweden. Both ferry operators intend to deploy the new vessels entirely on bio-LNG by 2025.
According to the contract signed in January 2022, Wärtsilä will supply engines, fuel storage, supply and control systems for three new LNG-fueled RoPax vessels. The company regards LNG as an important transitional marine fuel, bridging the gap between conventional diesel fuels and future carbon-free alternatives. “Decarbonisation is a front and centre issue for the maritime sector, and this focus is reflected in the choice of the Wärtsilä engines for these ferries. Optimal engine performance is essential in maximising fuel efficiency and minimising exhaust emissions. These new vessels will become an important part of Poland’s transport infrastructure, and we are proud to be a partner to this project,” said Matthias Becker, general manager for sales at Wärtsilä Marine Power.