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Lloyd’s Register (LR) is due to class Texelstroom, the 1,750-passenger, 350-vehicle, double ended ferry that is scheduled to operate between the Dutch islands of Texel and Den Helder.

Ordered by Royal N.V. Texels Eigen Stoomboot Onderneming (TESO), the ferry is to be constructed at the LaNaval Shipyard in Spain for delivery at the end of 2015 before four months of final commissioning and training. The vessel is then due to enter service in the spring of 2016.

According to Lloyd's Register, Texelstroom will combine the use of several different energy sources to provide reliable, efficient power and vastly reduce its environmental impact in comparison with existing ferry technology.

The ferry will have two completely independent engine rooms, each of which can provide enough power to be able to continue the normal service of the ferry at least up until Beaufort wind force scale 9. One engine room is to be fitted with two ABC diesel engines (2 x 2000 kW), and the other with two ABC dual fuel engines (also 2 x 2000 kW). On each ship end two Rolls Royce azimuth propellers will be installed, to achieve a speed of 10 knots (economic) and 15 knots (maximum).

It is planned that the ferry will operate mainly on natural gas stored in two batteries of compressed natural gas (CNG) bottles installed on the top deck. Electric batteries will also form an integral part of the advanced energy management system. In addition to this, with over 700 square metres of solar panels, the ferry will have power available from the sun in the sunniest region of The Netherlands.

TESO has a long-standing relationship with Lloyd’s Register which started with the plans to build the Schulpengat in 1989. After that, TESO decided to contract Lloyd's Register for its ISO certification. In 2003, the engineering of the ferry Dokter Wagemaker started and the contract was also awarded to Lloyd’s Register.

During the design, plan approval and building of Texelstroom, TESO looked for a partner to support its plans. Cees de Waal, managing director of TESO, said that safety and reliability were the most important goals to achieve, and with Lloyd's Register's background knowledge of the TESO philosophy, the company decided again to choose Lloyd's Register as its classification society.

The design of the ferry was supported by the European Union’s I.Transfer Program, which aims to make ferry transport more freely accessible and sustainable, and encourage more people to travel by water. The vessel is to be ice class, with a strengthened hull in case of winter ice.

John Hicks, VP for Global Passenger Ships, Lloyd’s Register said: "Winning the contract for this highly innovative ferry demonstrates LR’s ability to help shipowners manage the introduction of new technology with confidence. Our teams in Spain and the Netherlands helped the client in delivering solutions to the engineering and regulatory challenges involved in this exciting contract. This is a robust design with the ability to operate in safety and efficiency in all conditions."

Operational details

- It is planned that the ferry will sail on gas as much as possible. And with abundant installed power under normal conditions, with only the dual fuel engines, the ferry will meet maximum service speed requirements if necessary.

- The dual fuel engines will start in diesel mode, but change over to dual fuel after a couple of minutes.

- The ferry is scheduled to operate from 6.00 till 22.00 constantly on an hourly service from both sides between Den Helder and Texel. The actual sailing time is about 20 minutes per voyage.