La Méridionale orders two LNG-powered RoPax vessels

French shipping company La Méridionale has placed an order for two LNG-powered RoPax (roll-on/roll-off passenger) vessels.

PHOTO: A model of La Méridionale’s LNG-powered RoPax vessel. La Méridionale

Both vessels will be powered by two electric propulsion motors of 10.5-megawatt (MW) each. The motors will be fuelled by LNG.

The new RoPax vessels will also be equipped with shore power capability and a 13-megawatt hour (MWh) battery pack, and hence, “will no longer emit any polluting emissions” during their stopovers.

The new vessels “will also make it possible to use a variety of alternative fuels, including biogas and synthetic methane,” La Méridionale claims.

The use of LNG will reduce “sulfur and fine particle emissions by 99%, and nitrogen oxide emissions by 80%,” the company adds.

French shipping giant CMA CGM has placed the orders on behalf of La Méridionale. CMA CGM acquired La Méridionale in May this year.

The company has not disclosed the shipbuilder that has been contracted to build these vessels. The vessels are expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2027.

LNG has been gaining popularity among shipowners. The global LNG-fuelled fleet is currently made up of 448 vessels, with another 86 expected to join this year, classification society DNV data shows.

LNG can curb carbon dioxide emissions by about a quarter compared to conventional bunker fuels. But its methane emissions can be 36 times more potent as a greenhouse gas (GHG) compared to carbon dioxide over a century, according to a World Bank study.

By Tuhin Roy

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