Both ships will be powered solely by liquefied natural gas (LNG) instead of heavy fuel oil. This means we can offer the greenest sea routes between Norway and the EU. LNG contains no sulfur or heavy metals. It reduces CO2 emissions by 20-30 percent and emissions of NOx by around 90 percent compared to heavy fuel oil.
Our two new cruise ferries, MS Stavangerfjord and MS Bergensfjord, were both designed and built to be operated using LNG instead of heavy fuel oil from the beginning. Other shipping companies base gas operation of their vessels on dual fuel engines. When a dual fuel engine is operating an amount of liquid fuel oil is injected together with the injected gas also when the engine is operated in so-called gas mode. A single LNG engine is operating as a spark plug engine solely injected by LNG and not with any mixture of liquid fuel oil. By using only LNG as fuel, the environmental improvement will be significant, both along the coasts and in the harbors where the cruise ferries will operate.
Fjord Line has chosen Rolls-Royce as the supplier of the LNG engines. This is a well-proven technology, produced in Norway, which has been used on a number of ferries and ships used in the offshore industry. When MS Stavangerfjord is put in operation in 2013, it will be the first and largest cruise ferry in the world to sail with a single LNG engine.