Norwegian ferries and LNG

I love the Norwegian ferries. There is something extremely romantic about crossing beautiful fjords in a little boat, which, come rain, shine, sleet and snow links the main traffic arteries and tiny villages along the west coast of Norway. There is one small problem though, they are not particularly environmentally friendly, throwing out black smoke from their funnels.

The ferry operators are aware of the problem, and have worked hard to develop more environmentally friendly engines that run on liquid natural gas. Last weekend was the maiden voyage of MS Stavangarfjird, which will run between Bergen and Hirtshals, Denmark, which apparently went extremely well except for one thing. The ferry company are not allowed to bunker (tank up the ferry) in Norway! Why? Because according to the authorities here it is too dangerous to bunker LBG when passengers are on board, although Denmark and Sweden have no problem with allowing it!

According to a spokesperson from the Department for community safety and preparation (Direktoratet for samfunnssikkerhet og beredskap - guess that's Health and Safety!) the reason is because there is a possibility that a fire could occur whikst tanking the ferry. To remain a liquid LNG has to he kept under pressure at a temperature if -169C, and if any escapes it immediately becomes a gas. If the gas mixes with the correct volume of air and hits an ignition soirce there coukd be an explosion, although it is more likely that it would causea fire. However, the likelihood of thr mix being correct is extremely low, which is why other countries allow it.

As a resukt, the environmentally LNG will have to be taken by road tanker to Hirtshals in Denmark, so the ferries can bunker, incurring much greater CO2 emmissions than running the ferry in ordinary diesel, and of course high costs for the ferry comoany! Hopefully, the ferry can do the trip to and from Bergen without running out of fuel!! They could also bunker when there are no passengers on board, but the turnaround time does not allow for that - I assume extra port costs for time spent alongside, plus a couple of extra hours on the timetable would be even more expensive for Fjordline than trucking the stuff down to Denmark!

The ferry companies have apparently been trying to solve the problem since the beginning of the year but it seems no-one at the Directoratet wants to take a decision. It is funny hiw the Norwegians time after time shoot themselves in the foot commercially.

At the beginning of August it is Fjordsteam 2013, when Bergen/Hardanger fjord will be celebrating the hustory of the steam ferry (and Bergen Fire Brigade's 150th birthday!. The link goes through to an English brochure about the event. Let's hope the weather is more summery by then! http://www.fjordsteam.no/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/Brosjyre-18-1-13-engelsk.pdf