October 13, 2021. Baleària begins the natural gas remotorization of the Hedy Lamarr ferry at the West Sea shipyard in Viana do Castelo (Portugal), the last of the retrofit operations of the six it had planned, and which have been carried out since 2018. With this, the shipping company will have completed in March its fleet plan of nine ships that can navigate on liquefied natural gas (LNG) in which it has invested 380 million euros. It should be remembered that part of the investment carried out in the remotorizations is part of the CEF funds of the European Union.
During the five months that the conversion operation of the Hedy Lamarr engines will last, its current machines will be adapted, which are of the MAN 9L48/60B class, and will be converted to dual engines of the MAN 9L51/60DF class, with capacity for run on LNG and diesel.
In addition, two natural gas storage tanks with a total capacity of 565 cubic meters will be installed on the ship, something that will give it a gas navigation autonomy of more than 1,400 nautical miles. This is the most complex part of the retrofit, since it involves a cut in the upper deck of the ship, the introduction of both tanks and the subsequent sealing.
Taking advantage of the retrofit operation, Baleària will install all the smart ship project systems on the Hedy Lamarr. Thus, the ship will become a state-of-the-art ship, with technological improvements in view of the customer experience on board. The boat will have access to the on-demand digital entertainment platform, WhatsApp coverage during the voyages, smart TV in the cabins, a pet video surveillance system, and the accommodations will be accessible via QR code.
On the other hand, sensors will be installed on the ship to monitor fuel consumption and emissions in real time, as has already been done on other ships in the fleet. This is part of the Green and Connected Ports project of the European Union.
