The shipping company Caronte & Tourist launched the first LNG powered ferry to sail the Mediterranean. The vessel, launched in the Sicilian city of Messina has been named “Elio” in honor of one of the founders of Caronte-Tourist: Elio Matacena.
The purchase of the LNG ferry was possible through a medium-term loan of about 20 million euro made available by UniCredit and Mediocredito Italiano – Intesa Sanpaolo Group.
La Caronte & Tourist SpA is a private shipping company with over one thousand employees resulting from the merger of two historic shipping companies, the Calabrian Caronte SpA and the Sicilian Tourist Ferry Boat SpA.
“We need to be competitive with the other Italian regions also from the ecological point of view, we need an efficient and advanced non-polluting fleet and I think this was the best solution” said the president of the Sicilian region Nello Musumeci. Lorenzo Matacena, Chairman of Caronte & Tourist, also invited the mayor of Messina, Cateno De Luca, present at the event, to consider LNG as the non-polluting fuel for use in public transport.
ELIO is a ship of 8,055 gross tons, built for Caronte & Tourist by the Turkish Sefine Shipyard. It is 133.60 meters long and 22 meters wide, with a high load capacity, up to 1500 passengers and up to 38 heavy vehicles or 290 cars. The ELIO can reach a service speed of 12.5 knots, assisted by 3 Wartsila 6L34DF engines. The liquefied gas supply will allow to reduce CO2 emissions by 40%, Particulate matter by 100% and 90% for NOX.