The Polish shipyard Remontowa Shipbuilding has celebrated the keel-laying ceremony for a hybrid passenger and car ferry. The client is the Norwegian shipping company Torghatten.
According to the shipyard, the keel-laying ceremony marks another important milestone in the project, namely the start of hull construction. The completed hull is expected to weigh around 1,000 tonnes.
The ferry will be fitted with a diesel-electric hybrid propulsion system, in which generator sets work in conjunction with a battery system. The batteries are used for ‘peak shaving’, i.e. to balance out peak loads.
The ship’s design also allows for the battery storage capacity to be expanded in the future. This should enable the ferry to be operated entirely on electric power at a later stage.
The 83.5-metre-long ferry will be able to carry up to 249 passengers, 85 cars and six lorries. Delivery of the ferry, with the construction number B622/1, is scheduled for the second quarter of 2028.
The contract for the construction of the ferry was signed in January this year by Torghatten and the Remontowa Holding group, to which the Polish shipyard belongs.
The contract provides for the construction of a fully equipped double-ended ferry. It is intended for use in Norwegian fjords in the area around the islands of Dønna and Herøy.
According to its own statements, Remontowa Shipbuilding has many years’ experience in building vessels with hybrid propulsion systems and battery systems. To date, the shipyard has delivered seven vessels of this type.
