Houlder has been working with Wightlink on the Victoria of Wight G Class ferry, designed for operation between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, for over five years.  Their team was originally responsible for the concept design and production of a Technical Requirements document. The brief specified an energy efficient ferry with a reduced carbon footprint compared to other vessels of a similar size. Houlder’s understanding of green technology helped Wightlink develop the vessel as a diesel-electric hybrid operating on Marine Gas Oil (MGO) and batteries.

The vessel also has a number of other ingenious energy saving features such as LED motion sensitive lighting, elevators that put power back into the ship’s electrical system and heating that uses waste heat from the engines. Its battery packs are designed to smooth out power demands so the engines run closer to optimum efficiency. Power storage also allows operation on a reduced number of generators, reducing emissions and operating noise, importantly, giving fewer disruptions for local residents.

When the design was finalised, Houlder provided technical support during the shipyard competition. Once Cemre shipyard, Yalova Turkey was named as winner, Wightlink selected Houlder as owner representative and technical advisor. This role included ongoing plan approval on the Shipyard’s detailed design and drawings. Throughout the Victoria of Wight build, Houlder engineers made regular site visits to inspect progress of vessel production and to ensure the quality, standards and shipbuilding progress meet Wightlink standards.

The 89.7m, 1208 passenger capacity ‘Victoria of Wight’ is part of Wightlink’s Investing for the Future programme. This also includes a range of other improvements to our service such as new two-tier boarding ramps at Portsmouth and Fishbourne, designed to ease loading and unloading and to reduce the vessels turnaround time in port.

The “Victoria of Wight” was launched in February 2018. Houlder will continue to support the project as she comes into service.