SHIPYARD NEWS

Timely LNG boost for German Bight ferry service

7 years ago

An adapted Norwegian-built LNG ferry goes into German North Frisian island service in November, writes Tom Todd.

Adapted Rømø Express will more than double island transport capacity

The 96.95m loa and 15m wide double-ended Rømø Express (ex Tresfjord) has been bought for a reported €10 million by the Rømø-Sylt Line, part of Flensburg-based shipping group FRS. The ferry will serve from early November alongside the existing 88 x16m double-ender Sylt Express on the route between Havneby on the Danish island of Rømø to the north and List on the German island of Sylt.

Sylt Express was built at Norway’s Fiskerstrand Verft in 2005. The same yard built Tresfjord/Rømø Express for service in the Norwegian fjords in 1991. The ship was converted to LNG operation at the STX Langsten shipyard in 2010 while retaining its diesel engine for emergency use.

Drawing 4.6m and of 3,423gt, Rømø Express has a Rolls Royce Bergen gas engine type C2565:33 L99AG of 2340kW and an Ulstein Bergen 2330kW diesel electric plant as well as two Ullstein thrusters. Service speed is put at 15 knots.

The ship was handed over to the Germans and given its new name in early September and was being adapted at theTallinn Shipyard BLRT Group in Estonia before entering North Frisian service. Its new owners said “comprehensive work” was being carried out, including adapting the ship to port facilities in Havneby and List. Passenger and crew areas as well as the ship’s bridge were modernised earlier in Norway.

FRS said car/passenger ferry capacity on the Rømø-Sylt route will increase by 150% with the new ship, which carries up to 127 vehicles. The smaller Sylt Express carries 80.

The additional capacity will be timely and help meet expected higher demand on ferry services from Rømø to Sylt. That’s because of extensive rail work on the mainland coastal Marsh Railway – from Hamburg to Sylt. The work, which will last some years and cost some €160 million will periodically disrupt rail car traffic across the Hindeburg Damm – the 11 km-long rail causeway linking the mainland with Sylt. Cars will need to detour north and get to Sylt via Havneby on Rømø using the Sylt Line’s – now two – car ferries.