Spirit Class ferries
Spirit of British Columbia
|
|
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: | BC Ferries |
| Preceded by: | Victoria Class, Cowichan Class |
| Built: | 1992 to 1994 |
| In service: | 1993 to present |
| Building: | 2 |
| Completed: | 2 |
| Active: | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | S class ferry |
| Displacement: | 11,681 tonnes |
| Length: | 167 m (547 ft 11 in) |
| Installed power: | 21,394 hp (16 MW) |
| Propulsion: | Four MAN-B&W 6L 40/54 |
| Speed: | 19.5-knot (36.1 km/h) |
| Capacity: |
|
S-Class ferries (also known as Spirit Class ferries or Super ferries) are RORO ferries operated by BC Ferries in British Columbia, Canada. They are the largest ferries in the BC Ferries fleet.
There are two Spirit Class Ferries — Spirit of British Columbia (built 1993) and Spirit of Vancouver Island (built 1994). The vessels are largely the same in layout and characteristics and both ferries were built (using the same method) in separate parts by a variety of different shipbuilders.
The 200 ft. bow hull pieces were built at Allied Shipbuilders in North Vancouver, while the 340 ft. stern hull pieces were built at Yarrows Ltd. in Victoria. The pieces were joined in Esquimalt before being towed to Fraser Surrey Docks. There they were joined with the superstructure, which had been constructed in 3 pieces along the Fraser River in Delta. Once the superstructure was complete the ships were returned to Esquimalt for finishing touches. Each ship cost roughly $130 million and took two or three years to complete.
Spirit of British Columbia underwent extensive internal renovations in 2005 costing roughly $14 million. In January 2006, similar renovations on Spirit of Vancouver Island were completed.
As of March 24, 2016, BC ferries has announced that the 2 Spirit class vessels will be converted to operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG). The contract has been awarded to Remontowa Ship repair Yard S.A. of Gdansk, Poland totalling $140 million. The conversion will allow the vessels to run on dual-fuel beginning in 2017 and completing in 2019.
Last fiscal year BC Ferries spent $118 million on diesel fuel of which 2 Spriit Class vessels consumed approximately 16 per cent (approx $19 million). Converting the vessels to LNG along with 3 new dual-fuel Salish-Class vessels will go a long way to help with fare affordability as LNG cost significantly less than marine diesel. By utilizing LNG to fuel the Spirit-Class vessels, BC ferries expect to reduce CO2 emissions by 12,000 tonnes annually, which is equivalent to taking 2500 vehicle off the road per year.
...
Wikipedia