March 3rd 2006 New ferries for Christmas Sunferries have now signed off on their long-planned order to purchase two new, 300 passenger capacity, fast cat ferries capable of travelling at 28 knots which shaves 7 minutes off the trip to and from Magnetic. The combined cost of the ferries is $6.3 million. The ferries, which are being built by Brisbane Ship Building and were designed by One2Three naval architects, are hoped to be in service by Christmas. According to Sunferries' General Manager, Mark McKeon, the vessels are identical in design to each other and longer and narrower than the present vessels which will be sold off - apart from the reef cat which will remain. "They will not be used for the reef, however they will be used for the Palm Island service when the reef cat not available," he said. A plan view of the new vessels. Apart from turning the present 25 minute trip into about 17 minutes the ferries will be easier to berth at Nelly Bay - where, due to the design of the terminal, the vessels have to either swing around to tie up or swing around to to depart. "They will certainly be more responsive for the skippers to manoeuver, and with the new luggage systems, it will be a lot quicker to unload and load," Said Mark Mckeon. As for fuel the new vessels are more efficient fuel-wise but, when asked if Sunferries could utilise the more environmentally sustainable biodiesel fuel he said, "We have looked into this however Caterpillar will not warrant the engines against any damage, it blocks up filters very quickly. It is 20% more expensive than regular diesel and there is only one source of supply in Australia at present. While I would love to use it, at the present time, it is not an option." As for noise, "All I can say is that they meet all of our Environment Protection Agency requirements and, as they are the latest and newest engines available, I am hopeful they will be quieter," said Mark McKeon. Interestingly the new vessels, which create less bow waves, may offer some extra capacity for faster passage up Ross Creek. Mark McKeon said, "We are working with Maritime Safety Queensland at present to gain approval to increase our speed in the creek. They will be involved in our sea trials but whether they will allow us to do this I can't say. If that were possible it is likely we could maintain the 10 knot speed we run at entering the port all the way up to the turning point at the Breakwater terminal." This could account for up to 1 or 1.5 minutes of saved travel time. Story: George Hirst

New ferries for Christmas

15 comments

Matt March 5th 2006

Biodiesel does NOT block filters, mineral diesel rubbish left behind after using it does. New engines and fuel tanks are clean and will stay that way of you use biodiesel. Caterpillar need some education as do you. It is also available in more than one place, try ABG at Narangbah in Brisbane, fuel can be bought in bulk at $1.05 per litre. That is not more expensive, its less expensive than retail mineral diesel. Oh you can also get in Sydney at Ruherford too. I do not like your financial abilities either. It almost makes your story sound a bit like rubbish / misinformation.

joe morgan March 5th 2006

This is a terrible innacurate story. Biodiesel does not clog filters. A new engine with a newly fitter tank would never clog filters. Only when biodiesel is run in an engine that once petronormal would a small amount of "predictable" diesel sludge move forward due to the "cleansing" effect of Biodiesel. Some one from either Caterpillar or Brisbane Ship Building or other wise has their information very messed. Joe

Dillyman March 5th 2006

The biggest load of crud I have heard. The comments are so ill informed he had to have been scripted to say that about Biodiesel. How ignorant can anyone in that position be Tut! Tut! Tut!

chasmac March 7th 2006

I hope Mr McKeon is following these comments as there seems to be a golden opportunity to clarify, expand and develop his explanations. Clearly there is some ambiguity (were the technical views his own or Caterpillar's?), fuel available in Brisbane or Sydney is not much use to an operator in Townsville with no bulk storage capacity but above all - a positive story with long term implications should not be allowed to get smudged into obscurity because of some misunderstanding. More information please.

CapnRon March 9th 2006

Criticism seems a bit harsh! Mr McKeon is trying to run a business. The company's putting up millions to upgrade the service and the new engines will be far more efficient than the old ones. Biodiesel is pseudo-environmental anyway. It may come from plants but it's still a carbon-based fuel, pollutes the air and contributes to greenhouse. Maybe you shouldn't take the ferry and sail across instead.

joe morgan March 13th 2006

Thank you firstly to the web editor for placing our comments about this story. Thank you secondly to the guys who took the time to express their opinions and to CapnRon for expressing his. Criticism often can be harsh but I don't think it was directed at Mr McKeon. I see it as being break down in communication. Hence the comments that have sparked "the criticism". Also the writer may be partly responsible for "just reporting the facts" or forgetting to check the accuracy of them - or for not allowing for a balanced opinion. Now as for Biodiesel being a pseudo-environmental - which point do I start with. Biodiesel doesn't come from plants, oil does and Biodiesel isn't just made from plant oil it

Robert Fyvie March 13th 2006

Surely in such a beautiful marine environment that these ferries would be sailing in, biodiesel is the pefect thing for them to use (bar sails)? Biodiesel when spilled in water is not toxic like petro products and is fully marine safe and biodegradable. Environmental Protection agency requirements - have you checked how much it would cost you if you spilled even the smallest amount of mineral diesel in the water? You may find that biodiesel as well as being cheaper than distillate, is also far cheaper in the long run in terms of engine longevity, staff /passenger health and of course nil environmental cost from spills. Noise was mentioned in this article, with the hope that the new engines would be quieter - most engines run considerably quieter on biodiesel, due to the fact that it burns slowly and more completely. Biodiesel is not (as other have also pointed out) only available in 1 place in Australia. By 2007 and there will be 6 operators in Australia, with 9 plants all over the country producing around 700,000,000L of biodiesel per year. It is neither George Hirst's nor Mark McKeon's fault that this article or the opinions expressed are so far from the truth. It is unfortunately very common for this ignorance and often deliberate - I still don't understand why some people would rather stonewall and ridicule new or alternative technologies instead of trying to understand them first. I only hope that future decisions made about fuels in vehicles will be a bit better researched and opinions and conclusions drawn will be better balanced and come from more sources than just the petro chemical industry and mechanics who have never objectively experienced biodiesel, but stil choose to have an opinion anyway. Please for the sake of our planet and more locally, for your own health and marine environment, re-consider the use of biodiesel. You will find that caterpillar will come to the party and you will gain much acclaim from your passengers and the public.

George Hirst March 13th 2006

As the story's writer I've been following these comments with interest. There is always an "ouch" factor when readers take a swipe at the way a story has been written but I am delighted to see so many readers passionately engaging in the issue. I can also assure Matt that there was no attempt to misinform and Dillyman, no scripting was in use either. The article was, in fact, really about the two new vessels Sunferries are building. The question about biodeisel was just one of several that were put to Mark McKeon and his answers were correctly reported. Personally I would love to see biodeisel or even better, hydrogen fuel cell technology powering the ferries. But I profess no specialist knowledge in these fields and the practical, on-the-ground technicalities of their implimentation. There are documents for and against one can google easily enough but it is surely worth considering Mark McKeon's position. As a working business manager in a tough competitive environment, would you be prepared to use a fuel that is presently more expensive and unavailable (in bulk) in Townsville, on engines worth hundreds of thousands of dollars if the company that made the engines refused to provide a warranty for its use. It is great that Mr McKeon is hearing the voice of his likely customers. One might hope too that the calls he makes to the supplier, seeking out the options on biodeisel, will register if Caterpillar are a responsive forward thinking company. Interestingly, Caterpillar are owned by Hastings/Deering who in turn are owned Malaysia's Sime Darby - a very large multi-national refiner of, wait for it, vegetable oil! One assumes that with fingers in both vegetable oil and heavy engines this company would have seen a market opportunity. If not then maybe they could be fairly easily nudged towards building engines that are very compatible with a fuel they already sell worldwide.

chasmac March 13th 2006

George, I think you mean Caterpillar is represented in Australia by Hastings Deering. That is slightly different. Interestingly, if you Google 'caterpillar biodiesel' there is quite a lot of comment from the company about biodiesel, about which they have obviously been well informed for a number of years, including the following statement: "Failures resulting from the use of any fuel are not Caterpillar factory defects and therefore the cost of repair would NOT be covered by Caterpillar's warranty."

George Hirst March 13th 2006

Point taken Chasmac. Still, it does seem like an opportunity for some of these related companies to work together for their and our mutual benefit. George Hirst Ed.

Robert Fyvie March 15th 2006

Thanks George and chasmac for your comments - good to see that everyone's comments are being considered. It is correct that there are many arguments for an against biodiesel that can be googled, however, most of the "against" are on very shaky grounds and often quite poorly researched, with statements being made from ignorance, rather than real research or first hand testing/experience(as you also find with the climate change/global warming debate). Some proper, objective enquiries and trials would clear this up. Interesting point about Caterpillar & the vegetable oil connection. As for warranty issues, this is very commonly misconstrued. No manufacturer will warrant any problems caused by the fuel. As you can see in Catterpillar's statement on this, they don't care what fuel you use (though they have recommendations), but if your fuel cases a problem (like if you pick up a bad batch of mineral diesel), then you have to take it up with your fuel supplier. No manufacturer covers fuel, just defects in the parts they make. If you consider this properly, it means that biodiesel does not void your warranty, as most people will initially conclude. If mineral diesel or biodiesel cause your fuel filters to clog - that is your responsibility - not Caterpillar's. Further, looking at the specifications that Caterpillar recommend and the various ratings for the fuel, (which distillate barely meets), you will find that ASTM biodiesel (as you will get in Australia) far exceeds the standards of distillate in a few key areas like a higher cetane rating and also far better lubricity, leading to much less engine wear/noise/maintenance/pollution. I think that Mr McKeon needs to get in contact with a supplier/distributor who can arrange a trial for him ASAP (I can pass these details to him if required.) Cheers, Robert

Mark McKeon March 15th 2006

I really appreciate the interest in this subject by the readers but I would like to confirm that our local agent has told us they will not warrant our engines if we use biodiesel. Added to this there is no distribution in North Queensland (tanks,trucks, distributors etc). Queensland Transport, TOLL/Patrick, the military and Riverside Marine all face the same issues here in NQ. This discussion is fruitless for us and I would prefer not to continue. Mark McKeon, General Manager, Sunferries.

Robert Fyvie March 15th 2006

Thanks George and Mark, for your indulgence on this topic so far. Mark, I understand where you are coming from. It is unfortunate that there is no distribution presently in NQ for you and therefore no surprise that your local agent has little enough knowledge and experience of biodiesel apart from urban myths to base their position on. I would not be wanting to risk a business operation on those odds either. I was only mentioning this because I know that there are distribution companies who may be able to supply NQ from one of the new QLD biodiesel plants that has just commenced production there doing 160 Million litres of Australian/US Standard certified biodiesel per year. Their gate price is currently lower than petro-diesel and will probably continue to be so as mineral oil prices continue to rise. I'm not sure on the costs of trucking it up there and storing it locally for you, but this sort of thing has been done easily elsewhere before and still competed economically with petro products. I'll say no more on it and I respect your decision, but I'd be happy to help put you in touch with the right people if you ever did want to investigate this further. Cheers,

Guy Lane March 17th 2006

A commercial distributor for biodiesel now exists in Townsville see: www.reefuel.com. Launch events for the fuel are planned for 29-30 March in Townsville.

Mark July 15th 2006

Supply and demand go hand in hand if no-one is asking for a product then it is less likely that the product or service is supplied. Im sure in NQ, if demand was there then the supply would follow. DD=dino diesel BD=Biodiesel Im sure new Cat engines will use BD with no problems in many parts of the world. Where Cat engines are used BD is already in the DD whether you like it or not, it's law. What happens when the Oz gov says 20% BD in all DD, companies will not be saying they will not supply warranties. If most of western Europe can do it what's the problem here. As they are new engines the issue of blockages would not be an issue as the blockages come from years of DD residue build up. Not being from NQ I don't understand the conditions there for supply, business etc, though I know if I was choosing a ferry, I would be riding on the more envioromentally friendly one, should there be a choice. Enviro friendly is becoming part of life and business. You can only run from it for so long. In many parts of the world the cruise/ ferry industry is getting more and more pressure for enviromental issues. If you want to make your money in the water ways better do the best you can to take care of it. That goes equally for the users who should expect when companies make an effort to be enviro friendly expect to pay a little more. Good luck I hope there new ferries go well