Island Aurora

70-100 m

500-1000 kWh

The Island-class ferries are a series of six next-generation hybrid-electric vessels being built for Canadian operator BC Ferries. The new battery-powered vessels are intended to offer inter-island ferry services between Vancouver Island and Vancouver in Canada’s British Columbia province. The ships will improve service frequency and increase passenger capacity, while reducing vehicle line-ups and emissions. The company intends to operate the vessels as all-electric ferries using clean energy upon the availability of an effective electric charging technology. The ships will be operated using on-board low-sulphur diesel hybrid system in the meantime.

Corvus ESS specifications:

Name Island Aurora
Owner BC Ferries
Integrator van der Leun
Segment Cruise and Ferry
Sub-segment Electric and Hybrid Ferries
Vessel type Car Ferry
ESS capacity 813 kWh
Corvus product Corvus Orca ESS
Delivery year 2019
Ship yard Damen Shipyard Gorinchem, Damen Galati Shipyard
Ship design Damen 8117 E3
Newbuild/Retrofit Newbuild
Vessel size 81 m x 17 m x 5,7 m
Passenger capacity 300-450
Car capacity 44
Gross tonnage 2277
Deadweight tonnage 334
IMO no 9831763
Area of Operation British Columbia, Canada
Sailing route Port McNeill - Alert Bay - Sointula
Sailing distance 14 km + 12 km + 10 km
Crossing time 45 min. + 35 min. + 25 min.
Ship system Hybrid
Bus Voltage 640-900
Class BV
Flag state Canada

Estimated annual savings

0 liters

diesel/year saved

0 t/year

CO2 emission reduction

Battery operation

Load Levelling

Peak Shaving

Spinning Reserve