EMD 710 Series Tier 4 engines to power three new Staten Island Ferries

7 April 2017

Eastern Shipbuilding Group of Panama City, FL, announced the receipt of a Notice to Proceed (NTP) from New York City Department of Transportation for the detail design and construction of three ferries for the Staten Island Ferry. The ferries will be powered by EMD 710 Series marine engines certified to the US EPA Tier 4 emission standards.

The three double ended Ollis Class ferries have an overall length of 320 ft, beam of 70 ft, and draft of 13 ft at the design load at the waterline. Each ferry has a maximum capacity of 4500 passengers. The ferries are not intended to carry vehicles.

Each of the ferries will be powered by four EMD 12-710 two-stroke, 12-cylinder, medium speed diesel engines, with two engines powering one propeller at each end of the vessel. The total installed power on each ferry is 9,980 hp.

The EMD 710 Series Model E 23B marine engine utilizes SCR aftertreatment to meet the Tier 4 emission limits (NOx = 1.8 g/kWh; PM = 0.04 g/kWh). The EMD 710 E 23B is the first two-stroke engine for the marine market to achieve a Tier 4 final certification. Progress Rail—a Caterpillar company who owns EMD—announced the receipt of the EPA certification at the International Workboat Show in New Orleans last November.

The three ferries are funded through city, state and federal funds totaling $314 million. The first ferry is scheduled for delivery in 2019.

New York City has operated the Staten Island Ferry since 1905. The Ferry carries over 23 million passengers annually, or about 70,000 on a typical weekday, on a 5.2 mile run between the St. George Terminal in Staten Island and the Whitehall Terminal in Lower Manhattan.

Source: Eastern Shipbuilding