Each of the two engines on board has its own fuel tank, each able to carry up to 18 cubic metres of LNG – enough to keep the ferry running 24 hours a day for a week. The tanks maintain the LNG at a temperature of minus 160 degrees Celsius so that it remains liquid.
When the fuel is needed to power the ship’s drive system, the Gas Processing Unit (GPU) brings it back into a gaseous state before it’s fed through to the two separate engine rooms. Gas Regulation Units (GRUs) then ensure the correct pressure for the gas to enter the engines themselves, thus supplying the energy for the two propellers and the generators.
It’s a complex system but to captain Oli Hermann, up in his driver's cab, the ferry seems to drive like any other: "Every ferry has its own peculiarities and drives a little differently, whether there is a diesel or a gas engine in the engine compartment, I don't notice that," he says. "The engines have a particularly smooth running culture and purr quietly like a kitten," adds Dieter.