Liberty Lines launches hybrid fast ferry

Powered by an mtu hybrid propulsion system from Rolls-Royce, the 39.5m Vittorio Morace can carry 251 passengers at speeds of over 30 knots.

Designed by Incat Crowther and built by the Spanish shipyard Astilleros Armon the ferry has been classified as a ‘Green Plus’ ship by Italian classification society RINA. It will be the first of nine ferries to operate between Sicily and the neighbouring Aeolian and Egadi islands as well as between the Italian mainland, Croatia and Slovenia.

“We chose mtu hybrid systems because we want to minimise the environmental impact of our new fleet while not compromising on the high speed and range of our vessels,” said Gennaro Carlo Cotella, chief executive of Liberty Lines.

“As we have trusted mtu products for decades, we have also opted for this partnership for our major fleet renewal.”

When in harbour, the ferry will rely on its electric drive, switching to the mtu Series 4000 diesel engine in transit. The engine can also run on renewable diesel such as hydrotreated vegetable oil helping reduce CO2 emissions by up to 90%. During longer stopovers, the batteries can be recharged using shore power.

“We have used all possibilities and combined highly efficient combustion engines with exhaust gas aftertreatment, batteries and electric motors with an intelligent electronic control system to create an emission-optimised system,” said Denise Kurtulus, vice president Global Marine at Rolls-Royce Power Systems says.

Along with the two mtu 16V4000 M65L engines, rated at 2560 kW at 1800 rpm, the ferries feature selective catalytic reduction systems, two Danfoss Editron EM-PMI375 T1100-2900 permanent magnet E-Machines, two 100 kWe variable-speed gensets, and three 11 EST Green Orca 1050 battery packs (346 kWh total installed).

The propulsion system will be monitored by the mtu NautIQ Foresight equipment health monitoring system.