On the 14th of November the Amherst Islander II, a Damen Road Ferry 6819 E3, was launched at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the owner, the Ministry of Transportation Ontario, Canada, as well as Damen personnel.
The Amherst Islander II is part of a two vessel order that Damen will deliver to the Ministry of Transportation Ontario. The E3 ferries will be the first passenger/car ferries in North America with the ability to operate fully electric and will reduce the amount of emissions by the equivalent of 7 million kg of carbon dioxide each year.
With an overall length of close to 72 metres and a loading capacity of up to 42 cars, the Amherst Islander II is the smaller of the two. The larger 99 metre Damen Road Ferry 9819 E3, the Wolfe Islander IV, is currently under construction in the dry docks and will be launched mid-2020.
Damen sales manager Leo Postma said, “Successfully achieving this important milestone in a complex project like this can only be achieved in close cooperation between the client and the shipyard. We are truly proud to be working on these future-proof vessels, and are eagerly looking forward to seeing this vessel arrive in Ontario, Canada.”
Both ferries will operate solely on the Lake Ontario in between Amherst- and Wolfe Island.
