VESSEL REVIEW | Richmond – LNG-fuelled ferry built for Germany’s Lake Constance

German public utility and transport company Stadtwerke Konstanz will soon place a new double-ended Ro-Pax ferry into service on Lake Constance to provide a link for both commuters and tourists via the 4.8-kilometre stretch between the towns of Konstanz and Meersburg.

Named Richmond after Konstanz' sister town of Richmond upon Thames in the UK, the ferry was built to a Bureau Veritas-classed design by German engineering firm Technolog Services. Construction began at the Hamburg facilities of shipbuilder Pella Sietas and was taken over by owner Stadtwerke Konstanz in March 2022 and subsequently completed.

The new steel-hulled vessel measures 82.5 by 13.4 metres, displaces 840 tonnes, and has space for 700 passengers and up 64 cars. The design of the vessel itself has been optimised to reduce drag and therefore keep energy consumption as low as possible even with everyday use. The newbuild otherwise boasts a similar appearance to the earlier Stadtwerke Konstanz Ro-Pax ferries Lodi and Tabor, with onboard space for a small snack bar adjacent to the main passenger lounge.

Power is provided by two MTU LNG-fuelled, high-speed eight-cylinder engines that each produce 746 kW to drive Voith-Schneider propellers to ensure compliance with emissions and noise regulations in place on Lake Constance. The engines, which can be configured in the future to also run on bio-LNG as a lower-emission alternative, make Richmond one of the first inland passenger vessels in Europe to be fitted with gas propulsion.

For greater safety, the two LNG tanks are housed in separate compartments and an eight-metre-tall ventilation mast is fitted to be used in the event of leaks.

Richmond replaces the ferry Fontainebleu, which has been in service since 1970. It will soon begin serving the Konstanz-Meersburg daily routes alongside the four earlier diesel-powered ferries in the Stadtwerke Konstanz fleet.

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