BMT Secures New Orleans Passenger Ferry Contract
BMT Group subsidiary BMT Nigel Gee has secured a new contract with sister company BMT Designers & Planners and Louisiana based shipyard Metal Shark for two 32m high speed/low wake wash, 149-passenger aluminum catamaran ferries for the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA).
BMT Nigel Gee will be responsible for concept through to production design with BMT Designer & Planners providing local U.S. presence and design engineering support.
John Bonafoux, BMT Nigel Gee’s Managing Director, said, “The proven eco-friendly design will greatly improve passenger comfort and have extremely low wash to provide minimal environmental impact. The ferries will be run at a service speed of 22.5 knots.”
“BMT has recently signed a contract for similar vessels to connect Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia,” Bonafoux added. “It’s fantastic to see this design being built, which could work well on many other city routes in the United States.”
Currently, RTA operates two ferries which were built in 1937 and 1977 to transport passengers in the New Orleans area across the Mississippi River between Algiers Point and Canal Street, and Lower Algiers and Chalmette.
Deliveries for both vessels are scheduled for 2018.