The San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority recently welcomed back into service the 225-passenger M/V Pisces following its conversion to cleaner engines.
The new engine update is expected to lower harmful air emissions by 80%, according to WETA.
M/V Pisces is the first of four Gemini-class ferries in the WETA fleet to be outfitted with cleaner engines under the WETA Board of Directors’ decision last September to authorize $5.5 million toward the retrofitting effort, thanks to funding from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s Carl Moyer grant program and revenue from Alameda County transportation sales tax Measure B and BB.
“Diesel exhaust is a significant public health threat, and the transportation sector is a major contributor,” said Damian Breen, senior deputy executive officer of operations/enforcement at the Air District. “These grants for cleaner engines for the San Francisco Bay Ferry fleet help improve public health, air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
“WETA is committed to reducing emissions from its existing fleet while working toward a zero-emission future,” WETA Executive Director Seamus Murphy added. “Our agency has pushed the industry forward by building the cleanest new high-speed passenger ferries in the nation, and now we’re working to convert our oldest boats to this new standard.”
A second vessel, M/V Taurus, is being retrofitted at JT Marine in Vancouver, Washington. The project is expected to be complete by 2023, according to WETA.
