The technology group Wärtsilä will provide technical support via a long-term service agreement for its broad scope of solutions installed on Brittany Ferries’ latest RoPax vessel, the ‘Salamanca’. The 10-year agreement was signed in December 2021. The ferry will be inaugurated on March 25 and make its first commercial sailing from Portsmouth, U.K. to Bilbao, Spain on March 27.

The ’Salamanca’ is the first LNG-fuelled passenger ferry to operate from the U.K. The vessel’s multi-fuel Wärtsilä engines are also adapted to utilise even cleaner fuels, such as synthetic or bio-methane, as and when they become available.

“We have a responsibility to operate as environmentally efficiently as possible and the choice of LNG-fuelled propulsion is in line with this commitment,” says Arnaud Le Poulichet, Director Engineering and Maintenance Brittany Ferries. “The advanced technical support provided by Wärtsilä will optimise the ship’s operational performance, thus further raising its level of sustainability.”

The extensive scope of the service agreement includes remote operational support and Wärtsilä’s unique Expert Insight digital predictive maintenance solution. Expert Insight combines artificial intelligence (AI) techniques and advanced diagnostics with the company’s OEM expertise to identify anomalous equipment or system behaviour. It proactively identifies and highlights potential failures allowing appropriate actions to be taken, thus ensuring optimal uptime.

The agreement also includes long-term maintenance planning emphasising a fully controlled and optimised maintenance budget. With round-the-clock technical and operational support provided from Wärtsilä’s Expertise Centres.

“We congratulate Brittany Ferries on the inauguration of the ‘Salamanca’, a ferry that is in complete alignment with the maritime sector’s ambitions towards decarbonised operations. The service agreement will ensure that the vessel’s sustainable propulsion solutions will be efficiently maintained so that its carbon footprint is minimised at all times,” Nicolas Rossi Agreement Sales Manager, Wärtsilä Marine Power

The ‘Salamanca’ was built at the CMJL (China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Weihai)) facilities in China. It features two Wärtsilä 46DF dual-fuel main engines and three Wärtsilä 20DF dual-fuel auxiliary engines with gas valve units. Wärtsilä has also supplied two LNGPac fuel storage, supply and control systems, two tunnel thrusters, two tail shafts, the stern tube seals, a Wärtsilä Aquarius Ballast Water Management System, and Wärtsilä’s Nacos Platinum integrated navigational system.