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One Cape May-Lewes ferry receives new engine; other fleet upgrades coming

Some of the Cape May-Lewes ferries have outdated engines which are being upgraded thanks to federal funds, and one of the upgrades was recently completed.

The MV Delaware’s engines have been replaced with new marine propulsion engines, thanks to nearly $1 million dollars from the EPA. The MV Delaware’s engines, along with the engines of the MV New Jersey and the MV Cape Henlopen, have been in place for 40 years. None of them are failing, but the Delaware River and Bay Authority has been looking to make them more emissions-friendly, said Heath Gehrke, the director of ferry operations.

“It’s mostly to do with the fact that we’re having more difficulty getting parts and we’re starting to see things break down that we hadn’t seen,” Gehrke said. “So naturally when you have an engine that’s 40 years old, you’re going to start to have more problems.”

The DRBA also received $6 million in funds from the Federal Transit Administration to re-power the MV New Jersey and MV Cape Henlopen.

“Each vessel is supposed to emit about 40 percent less in terms of Carbon Dioxide, Sulfur Dioxide and other particulates, than the old propulsion system,” Gehrke said. “That’s a significant reduction.”

The DRBA is not required to replace the engines, but Gehrke said doing so makes sense for “reliability and emissions purposes."

“They’re actually fairly fuel efficient,” Gehrke said. “But now that they’re 40 years old, we’re starting to see some problems that we hadn’t seen in the previous four decades of their life and we’re having a little bit of trouble getting parts and things like that, so it’s time to move on.”

The vessels can carry almost 900 passengers each and about 100 cars on each vehicle deck as they trek between Lewes, Delaware and Cape May, New Jersey.

Gehrke said the MV New Jersey will be repowered in the winter of 2018. The MV Cape Henlopen will follow in the winter of 2020.

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