Transport / ‘Different kind of pods’ proposed for new freight-plus ferries
TWO new freight-plus NorthLink ferries are expected to go out to tender at the start of next year – depending on funds being available.
Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) said it expected to complete its designs for the two vessels, which would both carry up to 200 passengers, by December.
It is hoped the two ferries could complement the Hjaltland and Hrossey and provide more capacity on the stretched Lerwick-Kirkwall-Aberdeen route.
The vessels are hoped to be in service by 2029.
CMAL chief executive Kevin Hobbs said a tendering exercise could start at the beginning of 2025.
But he warned that was “on the premise that the money is available” for the two ferries.
“We can’t go out to tender on a wing and a prayer,” he added.
The freight-plus ferries would be longer than the Helliar and the Hildasay, offering another 355 m2 of space for trailers.
They would also be able to carry 200 passengers, with CMAL currently estimating there would be 58 cabins available aboard each.
Hobbs said CMAL, which owns ferries in the Northern and Western Isles, expected there to be around 40 sleeping pods on both vessels too.
He accepted these are not “everyone’s favourite kind of thing”.
Hobbs said CMAL, Transport Scotland and NorthLink are currently exploring the addition of “a different kind of pods” to the freight-plus ships.
However, he did not go in to further detail about these.
Previously it had been thought that the two ferries could use liquefied natural gas (LNG) to run the ships, a greener alternative to fuel.
But Hobbs said they had since found the terminal they would have to use for LNG was in Kent, which he said would have impacted their carbon footprint even more.
Instead they would be using “traditional” marine gas oil, better known as MGO.
The two freight-plus vessels would be able to hit a top speed of 20 knots, Hobbs said, up to three knots faster than the current freight ships.
And he said the ships would likely be able to move between “two modes” – freight mode and passenger mode.
The CMAL chief estimated the vessels would likely be in passenger mode for around five months of the year – particularly during the summer, Easter and around Christmas – and in freight mode the rest of the year.
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