Steel cutting for second Polish ferry has started in Gdansk

Steel-cutting for the construction of the second Ro-Pax ferry vessel contracted by the Polish Ferries company has begun in Remontowa Shiprepair Yard, the infrastructure ministry said on Tuesday. It added that the vessel is to be chartered by Polish ferry operators.

As explained, the second Ro-Pax ferry (a car-passenger ferry with increased line metres) is being built under a contract signed on November 26, 2021. According to the contract, Remontowa is building three such vessels for the company Polish Ferries, whose shareholders are the State Treasury and Polsteam. Two ferries will be operated by Unity Line of the Polsteam Group, while the third will be operated by Polferries.

The first ferry is at the stage of building sections and integrating finished blocks into segments. The vessel is expected to be launched at the turn of 2024/25.

– Today, with the start of the production process of the second ferry for Polish shipowners, a new chapter in the history of Poland’s ship repair yards has also begun. The contract, which is currently underway, will bring many benefits to both the Remontowa Shiprepair Yard and Polish shipowners,” Deputy Infrastructure Minister Grzegorz Witkowski stressed, quoted in the ministry announcement.

According to the Ministry of Infrastructure representative, thanks to the investment “the entire Polish ferry and shipbuilding industry gains a strong and established market position, and consequently, the role of Polish industry as a supplier of low-emission, modern vessels is also strengthened.”

The ministry stressed that Ro-Paxes are modern and environmentally friendly vessels adapted, among other things, to the increasingly stringent regulations of the International Maritime Organization and the European Union.

It explains that the ferries will be powered by four dual-fuel LNG engines with battery assistance, fueled by liquefied natural gas and diesel fuel used for ignition initiation. Instead of conventional propellers, each ferry will be equipped with two azimuth thrusters at the stern and two bow thrusters to enhance manoeuvring in ports. LNG propulsion, which will be used on the new ferries, will reduce CO2 emissions by about a quarter compared to the solutions currently used on similar vessels.

Source: PortalMorski.pl