(Jul. 30) – Fincantieri, one of the world’s leading shipbuilders, has been awarded a contract to build a latest generation ferry by Société des traversiers du Québec (STQ), a Canadian company that operates in maritime passenger transport. The contract, awarded following a public tender in which major competitors took part, is worth CAD 148 million, and has been signed by Georges Farrah, STQ Chairman and CEO, and Gabriele Cocco, Executive Senior Vice President Fincantieri Merchant Vessels. The contract has not needed the support of Italian export credit agencies and has benefited from funding allocated to a program of major projects being financed by the Government of Quebec. In January 2010 the Quebec Ministry of Transport had awarded the contract for naval architecture and engineering services to Deltamarin/Navtec, a Finnish-Canadian consortium, which drew up preliminary plans in preparation for the project’s tender. The public tender for the ship’s final design and construction took place between January and June 2012. Over coming months Fincantieri will work on the detailed design of the new ship, which is scheduled for delivery in Canada in late 2014. The ferry will be a concentration of technology and innovation, adopting the most advanced solutions in terms of energy saving and low environmental impact. It will be equipped with a diesel electric propulsion system, like on modern cruise ships.
