On completion, the 20+ knot ferry will primarily serve the Arsvågen-Mortavika route, forming a link in the main road system on the west coast of Norway between Bergen and Stavanger.
‘The Rolls-Royce Azipull thrusters, two at each end of the vessel, have pulling propellers and streamlined underwater units which turn the swirl energy from the propeller water into useful thrust,’ said Matias Mork, sales manager – Rolls-Royce System Solution Merchant Vessel. ‘They are a key to raising efficiency, in combination with the latest LNG-fuelled gas-engine design from Rolls-Royce.’
The contract to build the ferry was won by Fiskerstrand BLRT, a Norwegian-registered joint venture between Fiskerstrand Verft in Ålesund, Norway, and Western Shipyard in Klaipeda, Lithuania.
The vessel, capable of carrying around 600 passengers, will be 129.9m long and 19.2m beam with a deadweight of 1,300 tonnes, giving a capacity of 242 cars or its equivalent of 22 trucks plus cars on two decks.
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