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Three hybrid ro-ro vessels ready to fly the finnish flag

M/S ‘Finneco I’ – the first of Finnlines’ three new hybrid ro-ro vessels – was delivered on 28 April 2022 from the Jinling shipyard. The new ship will start operations in June, at first on the Bay of Biscay route between Kotka and Bilbao. The two other hybrid Finneco ships will soon follow as they, too, are ready for delivery to Finnlines in early summer of 2022.

Founded in 1947, the Finnish shipping company Finnlines Plc. is today part of the Italian-based Grimaldi Group SpA. Finnlines has subsidiaries or sales offices in Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Poland. The company operates ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the Bay of Biscay areas.

The three Finneco hybrid ro-ro vessels currently being delivered are part of a larger series of twelve hybrid ships ordered by Grimaldi Group and built by the Jinling shipyard in China.

”All of those vessels will be largely similar, except that the six Grimaldi ships that will operate in the Mediterranean region are equipped with one additional deck,” says Mr. Juha Ahia, Naval Architect and Project Manager, Newbuildings at Finnlines Plc.

M/S Finneco I will commence operations on the Bay of Biscay lines, particularly the cargo route between Kotka in Finland and Bilbao in Spain.

”The ship is suitable for carrying versatile ro-ro and project cargo, plus various other export goods, such as paper industry products. Return cargo might typically consist of motor vehicles,” Mr. Ahia specifies.

The three Finneco ships were designed by Messrs. Knud E. Hansen from Denmark. Between themselves, all three Finnlines’ ships are identical. Knud E. Hansen also developed the hybrid ro-ro ship concept that was utilised for the entire series.

ECO-FRIENDLY PROPULSION

In the design work, one of the key targets was to make the ships very environmentally- friendly. The classification society Rina has assigned an additional class notation ‘Green Plus’ for Finneco I’s environmental performance.

”Our aim is to make our new ships more ecological than the vessels of previous generations. For this purpose, largersized ships and onboard lithium-ion battery banks are helpful,” Mr. Ahia notes.

According to him, the Finneco vessels come with air lubrication in addition to a state-of-art integrated propeller-rudder system and modern hull lines that have been designed for better hydrodynamics.

The vessels are equipped with MAN’s modern two-stroke main engines having a lower specific fuel consumption than four-stroke engines. Consequently, they will produce less CO2 and other emissions.

The two 12,780 kW engines will yield a service speed of 20.7 knots.

Complementing the oil-fuelled engines, the battery banks of 5 MW will save fuel and reduce emissions.

”The idea is that the lithium-ion batteries are recharged while the ship is at sea. At the port, it will not be necessary to use the ship’s auxiliary engines. This enables zero-emission operations in port,” explains Ahia.

REDUCED EMISSIONS

Furthermore, an exhaust gas cleaning system will cut air emissions and reduce harmful particles. The Finneco ships will be equipped with SOx emission control technology.

Finnlines has invested in eco-friendly Langh Tec scrubbers to comply with existing and future SOx emission regulations. Open loop scrubbers remove SOx from the exhaust by utilising the natural alkalinity in seawater.

Seawater is sprayed on the exhaust, and the SOx in the exhaust reacts with water to form sulphuric acid which is then neutralised to sulphates by the natural alkalinity in seawater.

The new ships will be equipped with waste heat recovery and ballast water treatment systems.

Also, an innovative air lubrication system has been designed to reduce hull resistance. Compressors and nozzles at the ship’s bow will produce an air buffer beneath the specially-designed hull, resulting in reduced resistance and thus reduced fuel consumption.

Additionally, the vessels will be equipped with approximately 600 square metres of solar panels. Renewable energy is available on board to users.

LARGE-SIZED RO-RO SHIPS

After Finneco I, the other ships in the series – Finneco II and III – will be delivered during the summer of 2022.

”We chose the Jinling shipyard as shipbuilders since we knew them to be capable and competent for producing ro-ro vessels. As early as in 2007, the same shipyard started the project to build M/S Finnbreeze and her sister ships’ project for Finnlines,” recounts Ahia.

The Finneco ro-ro vessels are 238 metres in length, with a cargo capacity of 5,800 lane metres. One vessel is able to carry e.g. approximately 300 trailers, 150 cars and 500 sea containers for each sailing.

The ships are considerably larger than previous-generation ro-ro vessels. Compared with the largest vessels in today’s Finnlines fleet, the cargo carrying capacity of the hybrid newbuilds will increase by nearly 40 percent. According to Finnlines, the new ships will be larger and more eco-friendly than any ro-ro vessel currently operating in the Baltic Sea.

FLEXIBLE CARGO OPERATIONS

As lorry drivers will be frequent passengers aboard the ro-ro ships, Finnlines will upgrade the services and accommodation on these freight ships. The ships will include a gym and sauna area, dining and recreation room, and laundry facilities for all drivers to use. To enhance comfort on board, drivers will be allocated single cabins. There will be 12 cabins for drivers and 26 cabins for the crew on each Finneco ship.

The new ships are designed to be flexible for all type of ro-ro cargo. Efficient cargo operations will be ensured by arrangement of stern ramps, internal ramps, and hoistable car decks. Certain areas on cargo decks have been dedicated for loading of paper reels.

Several decks and internal ramps speed up loading and unloading.

“At the same the vessels will be quite flexible – hoistable decks make it possible to utilise the cargo space efficiently for new cars, and the high clearance on main deck for any type of rolling freight up to 7 metres,” Mr. Ahia points out.

by Ari Mononen
pictures by Finnlines