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A naming ceremony has taken place this afternoon, 14th December, for the world's largest gas-powered ferry, the MF Boknafjord.

The naming ceremony began at 1 p.m. local time in Ålesund, Norway. Among the officials attending the ceremony was the head of the supervisory board of BLRT Grupp, Mark Berman, and the head of Western Shipyard, Arnoldas Šileika. Minister of Transport and Communications Magnhild Meltveit Kleppa has been named the godmother of the ship.

The Boknafjord was built by shipbuilding company Fiskerstarnd BLRT for the transport company Fjord1. The vessel was designed by Norwegian firm Multi Maritime AS.

Both shipbuilding and designing companies form part of BLRT Grupp AS. Commenting on the project, Berman said: "This project is another proof that our holding is able to build eco-friendly turn-key vessels - from design development and preparation of documentation to ship building and interior design,"

"I hope that in the near future our country would have the necessary infrastructure and we will be given an opportunity to build such ferries for Estonia as well. Now we are negotiating with Saaremaa Laevakompanii to build a forth ferry for them," said Berman.

Speaking about the ferry concept, Šileika said: "The construction of the ferry with such a new concept that lasted over a year was a challenge for our specialists. Today it is clear that they managed it very well. I hope that the other orders will be fulfilled in the same manner, for instance, the dredger or eco-friendly tugboats that are under construction today."

The ferry has a total length of 129.9 metres, a maximum width of 19.2 metres and a capacity of 242 passenger cars or 22 heavy goods vehicles in combination with passenger cars. It holds up to 600 passengers, including staff.

The vessel was built according to Det Norske Veritas's Class, has a deadweight of approximately 1350 metric tonnes or approximately 7500 register tonnes. It has four azimuth thrusters that are run by a gas-electric system consisting of three large LNG gas motors and alternators. The gas motors will give a service speed of approximately 20 knots.

The ferry will operate on two routes in Norway.