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Seaspan Ferries Corporation officially welcomed two new hybrid LNG- and battery-powered cargo ferries to its fleet during a double commissioning ceremony on Sunday.

The Seaspan Swift and Seaspan Reliant, the first eco-ferries of their kind in North America, were formally christened at Seaspan's Tilbury Terminal.

Both vessels feature two Wartsila LNG-diesel dual-fuel engines, LNG generators for their main propulsion and a Corvus lithium-ion energy storage system (ESS) which operates as spinning reserve and provides propulsion power for low-speed manoeuvres.

Steve Roth, President of Seaspan said: "The introduction of two new technologically advanced, LNG-fuelled vessels represents the beginning of the realization of a bold and ambitious vision to reconstruct our marine terminals and modernize the vessels that service them.

"The Seaspan Swift and Seaspan Reliant reinforce an unwavering commitment to our drop-trailer customers and serve as a testament to how we live out our Core Value of Care for the Environment by ensuring the conservation of Canadian oceans and waterways, reducing greenhouse gas emissions dramatically, while delivering the highest level of efficiency, performance and reliability."

Following their construction at Sedef Shipyard in Istanbul, Turkey, the Seaspan Swift arrived in December 2016 and entered operation in January 2017, while the Seaspan Reliant arrived in late February and is scheduled to begin service later this month. The 148.9-metre-long ferries are the first new vessels added to Seaspan's fleet since 2002.

Seaspan currently operates a fleet of seven ferries out of five terminals in British Columbia, and supplies more than 50 percent of all cargo to Vancouver Island.

In December, Bunker Index reported that the Seaspan Swift had been bunkered with LNG in a truck-to-ship refuelling operation that involved FortisBC and Redwise. The supply was described by Seaspan at the time as being "the first of its kind in North America".