New Greener Ships for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence
In the past 10 years, more than $4 billion has been spent to refurbish and build new domestic and ocean-going vessels for the region that have the latest engine technology and hull designs to increase fuel efficiency and decrease air emissions; double hulls to prevent spills in the event of an accident, and state-of-the-art cargo handling systems to minimize dust and cargo residue.
Canadian shipowners have invested more than $2 billion on fleet renewal during the past decade. Here are examples of some of the innovative vessels now sailing on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River waterway.
- Between 2012-2015, Montreal-based Canada Steamship Lines added four new self-unloading and two gearless bulk carriers to the Canadian Great Lakes fleet. These Trillium-class ships feature new engine technology and hull design to reduce fuel consumption and air emissions and the latest generation in self-unloading equipment to prevent cargo spills and reduce noise in ports, amongst other improvements. Find out more.
- St. Catharines-based Algoma Central Corporation has added 11 new vessels to its domestic fleet as part of its Equinox fleet renewal program. All Equinox-class vessels are equipped with closed-loop exhaust scrubbers which remove the sulphur emissions generated from fuel combustion. These vessels are also on average 45 per cent more fuel efficient than their predecessors. Algoma also has three cement carriers operating on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence waterway as part of its joint venture NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers. The NACC Quebec is equipped with a hybrid exhaust gas scrubber that works in fresh and salt water, while the NACC Alicudi is equipped with a ballast water treatment system. Find out more.
- Quebec-City-based Desgagnés has invested $200 million to build four next generation asphalt-bitumen-chemical tankers for service in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence, east coast and the Arctic. The ships are powered by dual-fuel engines allowing the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG), marine diesel oil (MDO) or heavy fuel oil (HFO): a first for merchant vessels in Canada. When using natural gas as its primary source of energy, the Damia Desgagnés, for example, will achieve: the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by about 25 per cent due to a lower carbon content in natural gas; the reduction of nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions by over 85 per cent due to the lean-burn combustion process achieved by the ship’s engine; the near-complete elimination of sulphur oxide (SOX) emissions since natural gas contains very little sulphur; and air particle emissions will be practically non-existent due to the efficient combustion of natural gas. Find out more.