P&O Ferries signs maintenance agreement Wärtsilä for its two Fusion-class double-enders
P&O Ferries has signed a five-year Lifecycle Agreement with Wärtsilä for its two Fusion-class double-ender ferries (Source: Mike Hood)
Dover-headquartered P&O Ferries has signed a Lifecycle Agreement with technology group Wärtsilä for its two new Fusion-class double ender RoPax ferries P&O Pioneer and P&O Liberté.
Both of these RoPax ferries, built in China by Guangzhou Shipyard International, are the world’s largest and fastest double-enders and operate on P&O Ferries 90-minute flagship service between Dover and Calais, across the English Channel.
The five-year agreement is designed to optimise and ensure minimal impact on both ferries operations, while providing maintenance cost predictability. The Lifecycle Agreement was signed in January this year.
The scope of the agreement with P&O Ferries includes spare parts and maintenance services, as well as maintenance planning, operational support, and Wärtsilä unique Expert Insight predictive maintenance service.
This means issues can be identified before they cause a delay in the ferries schedules.
Both Fusion-class ferries feature a hybrid-battery propulsion system with main propulsion coming from four high efficiency Wärtsilä 16V31 diesel gensets, each developing 9,760 kW at 750 rev/min.
P&O Pioneer entered service in June 2023, followed by her sistership P&O Liberté in March this year and each 230.5m, 47,653gt vessel can carry 1,500 passengers 2,592 lanemetres of freight vehicles and 182 cars.
