Siremar's long-awaited newbuild for the Aeolian Islands trade will be built by Sefine Shipyard in Turkey. © NAOS Ship and Boat Design

Order for new LNG-hybrid Siremar ferry at Sefine now official

FerryCaronte & Tourist has confirmed to Shippax that it has signed a newbuilding contract with Sefine Shipyard in Yalova, Turkey for an 8,300gt SOLAS compliant LNG-hybrid ro-pax ferry that will serve the Aeolian Islands trade for Siremar.

The contract officially entered into force on 1 February with a 26.5-month delivery time. NAOS Ship and Boat Design, the Italy-headquartered naval architects behind the popular Visentini series, will provide the basic design on behalf of the shipbuilder and are also responsible for hull optimisation and tank testing.

Project-named EOLIE, the 109.95m long and 19.5m beam ro-pax will connect Milazzo on the northeast coast of Sicily with the Aeolian Islands, continuing to the mainland port of Naples on certain days of the week. Replacing the 1992-built LAURANA, the newbuild will have a capacity of 800 persons (passengers and crew) as an EU class B navigation compliant ship and 400 persons as an EU class A navigation ship. The 5m high single vehicle deck, the aft part of which will be open to stow hazardous cargoes, will be accessed via a 10m x 10m stern ramp, having an intake of 420 freight lanemetres or 114 cars. The vessel will boast 18 four-berth passenger cabins and two two-berth cabins for passengers with reduced mobility.

The diesel/LNG-electric ferry will be powered by four dual fuel auxiliaries – two with an output of 2,900kW each and two with an output of 1,300kW each. Two 2,500kW azimuthing thrusters will provide the propulsion, guaranteeing a 16.5-knot service speed at 80% mcr (18.5 knots at 100% mcr). Two bow thrusters with an output of 800kW each will enhance manoeuvrability required in the small island ports. A 1,000kW battery pack together with 250m² of solar panels will provide the ship's hybrid element.