The Spirit of Vancouver Island is one of two BC Ferries vessels now being converted to a “dual-fuel” platform, which will enable them to run on LNG, with diesel as a backup.
For some, it's just another fuel. For others, it represents an important step in a journey to help improve BC Ferries' environmental performance and cost efficiencies.
Marcel LaRoche likes to joke that he "grew up soaking up the cold salt water of the North Atlantic," a consequence of having a sailor for a father.
His love of the sea and ships later inspired him not only to become a marine engineer, but also to pursue a dream of developing new ways to make ships both safer and more environmentally friendly. "My motto has always been 'safe ships, clean oceans,'" he explains.
That passion, combined with his technical understanding of how using liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a fuel could help reduce a ship's environmental footprint, made LaRoche an obvious choice when BC Ferries went looking for someone to help it convert its existing ferries to LNG and build new ones that will run on the cleaner-burning hydrocarbon.
For LaRoche, it's a journey of a lifetime. Currently he's supporting a program to implement the organizational step-change required to bring LNG on board as a new marine fuel within the fleet.
 “It’s always been my goal to minimize the impact ships have on our environment. With BC Ferries’ switch to LNG, I get to help make that dream a reality here in British Columbia.” |
Job one on LaRoche's to-do list: overseeing the conversion of the fleet's two largest vessels, the Spirit of Vancouver Island and the Spirit of British Columbia, to a "dual-fuel" platform. Implemented as part of the ships' mid-life upgrades, these conversions will enable them to run on LNG, with diesel as a backup. In addition to these conversions, BC Ferries is also building three dual-fuel Intermediate Class Ferries, with the first expected to begin operations in 2016, with the converted Spirit of Vancouver Island and Spirit of British Columbia to follow.
Filling up with LNG will also mean cost savings, says LaRoche. "By using LNG instead of marine diesel oil, as well as making some hull modifications, BC Ferries stands to save more than $9-million a year in fuel costs over the remaining 27-year life cycle of the two vessels. These savings will reduce operating expenses and help us keep fares affordable."
Because it burns significantly cleaner than marine diesel oil, LNG will also help BC Ferries further reduce its environmental footprint. "We expect to see a reduction in carbon emissions, almost completely eliminate sulphur oxides and reduce nitrogen oxides to a fraction of what we would see with marine diesel oil," says LaRoche, who adds that the onboard experience will be very much improved by the changeover. "That distinctive diesel smell will be more or less absent, and people travelling on our LNG-fuelled vessels will notice emissions from the smokestacks are clear and odorless."
That's all good news to Dr. Peter Ross, director of the ocean pollution research program at Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre. "If you want to improve water and air quality then LNG is the preferred fuel," he says.
LNG is a far safer alternative for marine life, such as
B.C.'s resident killer whales (opposite).
Photo: istockphoto.com
In the case of accidental operational discharge, better known as spillage, LNG is again the clear choice. In the unlikely event that LNG does escape, it vaporizes into the air, whereas diesel sits on the surface of the water and creates a serious problem at the sea-air interface for marine life such as killer whales, of which there are two significant populations in waters plied by BC Ferries' vessels.
From a safety perspective, LaRoche says that the natural gas used to power BC Ferries' vessels is the same gas British Columbians have been using to heat their homes and cook their meals for generations, and it will be delivered using infrastructure that's already in place. "LNG has been transported and used as a fuel in ocean-going LNG carriers since the 1960s," he says. "This is not really that new; this is a tested and approved technology with a long and impressive safety record."
The changeover from marine diesel oil to LNG is, in fact, part of a worldwide revolution in the shipping industry. Nowadays, LNG is fuelling everything from ferries in the Baltic to tugboats in Istanbul. In part it stems from efforts to reduce costs, but the shipping industry is also responding to stricter air-quality regulations in national "emission control areas."
BC Ferries' LNG-powered vessels will sail in the wake of those operating in Norway, which was an early LNG adoptor and today has more than 20 LNG-fuelled ferries in use. One ferry in particular, the Finnish MV Viking Grace – which was the world's first large-scale LNG-fuelled passenger ferry and looks more like a cruise ship than a ferry with its 12 decks and 2800-passenger capacity – is a recognized tourist attraction for passengers travelling between Finland and Sweden. "We've heard passengers prefer to sail on the Viking Grace because they know she has a greener environmental footprint than her counterparts," says LaRoche.
The LNG used by BC Ferries will be delivered to vessels by truck from FortisBC plants on the mainland and Vancouver Island, says FortisBC spokesperson Michael Allison, who adds that the 10-year agreement to deliver 300,000 gigajoules of gas a year will benefit all the company's natural gas customers. "It will optimize utilization of existing pipelines during all seasons, which will stabilize delivery rates," he says. The agreement, which is for the supply of LNG for three Intermediate Class Ferries, makes BC Ferries one of the company's largest customers using natural gas for transportation. To put the deal into perspective, the average single detached home in B.C.'s Lower Mainland uses about 90 gigajoules of gas annually.
Looking to the horizon, LaRoche expects to one day see even more LNG-fuelled vessels in BC Ferries' fleet. "BC Ferries has a very focused strategic plan for vessel replacement, and one of the underlying principles is to increase standardization."
At a personal level, LaRoche reflects, "It's always been my goal to minimize the impact ships have on our environment. With BC Ferries' switch to LNG, I get to help make that dream a reality here in British Columbia."
Journalist and travel writer Ian MacNeill has contributed to numerous publications including The Globe and Mail, The Vancouver Sun, Western Living, BCBusiness magazine, Zoomer and Westworld.
This content was produced by Randall Anthony Communications, in partnership with The Globe and Mail's advertising department. The Globe's editorial department was not involved in its creation.