Spanish shipping company Baleària plans to invest €60 million ($70.1 million) to convert five ferries from its fleet to the use of natural gas as propulsion fuel.
The intervention will be carried out over the next two years on the ships Nápoles, Abel Matutes, Sicilia, Bahama Mama e Martín and Soler. The five units will flank the two new ferries that are also powered by gas that the Iberian company has ordered to the Italian shipyard Visentini, of which the first will become operational in February 2019.
With the use of natural gas as a fuel for ships, Baleària plans to cut annual polluting emissions produced by ferries by 45,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 4,400 tonnes of nitrogen oxide.
Baleària Eurolínias Marítimas S.A. is a leading Spanish shipping line in passenger and cargo services to the Balearics, providing daily connections between the islands and the mainland (via the ports of Barcelona, Valencia and Denia), and the only company in the sector to operate inter-island sailings to all four islands of the archipelago. It is also one of the largest operators in the Straits of Gibraltar linking Ceuta and Melilla to mainland ports.
Source: Portseurope