North America’s and Canada’s first LNG ferry/ship enters service in Quebec

Picture of North America's first LNG-fueled ferry.

STQ’s F.A. Gauthier, North America's first LNG-fueled ferry, is now in service on the St. Lawrence River — Photo courtesy Société des Traversiers du Québec (STQ)

North America’s first liquefied natural gas-fueled ferry entered service this week, as STQ, the Société des traversiers du Québec, put the Italian-built F.A. Gauthier to work on the St. Lawrence River.

The ship is Canada’s first to operate on LNG, and North America’s second, following Harvey Gulf International Marine’s Harvey Energy offshore supply vessel, now in Gulf of Mexico service for Shell. LNG for the 436-foot (133-meter) F.A. Gauthier, STQ’s largest vessel, is supplied by the utility Gaz Métro via Transport Robert-Rollex trucks –themselves LNG-fueled.

“LNG is a concrete solution for fighting climate change and allows local shipowners to comply with the increasingly stringent standards regarding polluting emissions on North America’s waterways,” Gaz Métro development and renewable energies VP Martin Imbleau said in a release. “It’s extraordinary that this major first is happening here in Québec,” Imbleau said. F.A. Gauthier sailed to Canada from the Fincantieri yard in Naples early this past spring

The ferry has four Wärtsilä 34DF dual fuel engines and Wärtsilä’s LNGPac liquefied natural gas fuel system

The Lloyd’s Register-classified ship is also an ice-breaker, “thanks to its innovative bow and stern, designed and patented by Fincantieri.” Quebec’s Chantier Davie has begun building two smaller, but also Wärtsilä dual fuel-powered and Lloyd’s-classed ferries for STQ. They are to be commissioned in the coming months.

Source: HHP Insights