Spanish yard commences electric ferries project

The contract for these passenger ferries was signed in January and it has now has received the approval of the Portuguese Court of Auditors, and this allows the shipyard to start the construction of the vessels. These 40-metre length ferries will be powered entirely by electricity to meet the requirements of the operator with this Portuguese shipping company committed to an environmentally sustainable fleet, which they claim is unique in the world. Construction of these passenger ferries will be in composites with Gondan having a separate division for this material.

The design of these passenger vessels is based on a catamaran-type hull specifically optimised for efficiency and to make the most of the close to 2MWh of electrical energy which will be stored in the battery banks. This will allow extremely silent operation along with no CO2 emissions. With a capacity of around 540 passengers, they are expected to transport some 19 million people each year on the Tagus River that runs north from Lisbon and also on tourist voyages around the harbour at Lisbon.

Gondan was selected after an international public tender in October 2020, where not only economic aspects were taken into account, but also the technical capacity of the shipyard, which allowed it to present an innovative and extremely efficient proposal that would meet the requirements demanded by the Portuguese shipowner.

With this construction programme of 10 vessels, Gondan’s GRP Division has a stable workload until 2024, which, together with the recent contracting of 2 wind-powered vessels to be built on steel hulls at its Figueras facilities, allows the company to face 2021 with optimism and a solid financial position. As part of its policy of reinvestment and continuous improvement, Gondan is in a position to face in the near future its plan to expand and improve the productivity of several of its centres in Castropol, with the consequent positive impact on the generation of employment and revitalisation of the economic activity of the region.

By Dag Pike