Q&A
Environmental sustainability of NYC Ferry vessels
0:58:00
·
168 sec
EDC officials discuss the environmental sustainability features of NYC Ferry vessels, including their construction and engine technologies.
- Ferries are built with lightweight aluminum and designed with a hull form to reduce wake and improve fuel efficiency
- All NYC Ferry vessels meet at least Tier 3 EPA emissions standards, with two vessels meeting Tier 4 standards
- EDC is exploring options to expand the use of Tier 4 engines in the fleet
- The cost difference between Tier 3 and Tier 4 engines is relatively small when building new vessels
Amanda Farías
0:58:00
Ferries are primarily built out of aluminum, a lightweight material that increases fuel efficiency.
0:58:06
In addition, the ferries are equipped with efficient t three engines to reduce emissions.
0:58:11
Could you briefly describe the sustainable nature in which in which the ferries are constructed?
0:58:16
And are there any negative impacts from utilizing aluminum in the construction of the vessels?
James Wong
0:58:21
Sure.
0:58:22
And I also wanna say, I'm sorry, on the previous question, just to clarify, our subsea provider has gone down since the implementation of fishbowl.
Amanda Farías
0:58:29
That was the new testimony as
James Wong
0:58:32
it relates to the construction of the vessels.
0:58:34
So these are higher speed catamaran vessels that are purpose built and designed with aluminum, which is a lighter weight metal, and a specific hull form that is designed to reduce the wake.
0:58:48
Wake is not only disruptive to other users in the water, but it's also wasted energy.
0:58:53
And so our passenger ferries are designed to have a pretty minimum wake behind them, which is one of the ways that we help reduce the fuel burn on these on these vessels.
0:59:02
Yes.
0:59:02
Every vessel that was built as part of the NYC ferry program was at a minimum the Tier 3 vessel standard, which has since been superseded by a tier 4 standard.
0:59:14
These are EPA quality standards.
0:59:17
And we have 2 vessels that are tier 4 in the fleet.
0:59:21
That represents already a fairly significant jump of some of the other vessels in the harbor.
0:59:26
And so we definitely lean hard into the fact that those are a good starting place, but we of course want to continue to develop them.
Amanda Farías
0:59:35
And in terms, like, operationally, so you're saying we both we have tier 3 and tier 4 vessels in the fleet currently.
0:59:41
Is the goal to move the entire fleet over to tier 4?
0:59:46
Or is, like, is that within the RFP and the contract that as vessels come up or as they go out of order, we're replacing with the tier 4.
James Wong
0:59:54
So so if we're if we're ever considering new vessels or replacement vessels, we will always be looking at whatever the latest technology is which for diesel burning vessels at the moment is Tier 4.
1:00:06
We don't have a concrete plan, but we are looking for ways that we can expand Tier 4 engines into our fleet.
1:00:13
Some vessels are capable of taking that engine, some are not just because of technological sort of like differences within the hulls themselves.
1:00:22
And yeah, I mean, we continue to look at sustainability and have a brighter eye towards the future there.
Amanda Farías
1:00:28
And is the cost comparative to between tier 3 and tier
James Wong
1:00:31
4?
1:00:33
I would say they're they're relatively comparable.
1:00:35
It it is not like a huge delta when you are building the vessel from scratch.
1:00:40
And because of the way the regulations are written, for any new vessels built if they are diesel engines that they would have to comply with Tier 4.
