Ro Vessels News

Maritime technology company Orca AI has calculated that its automated situational awareness platform achieved significant operational gains for clients in 2023, including a 172,716-tonnes reduction in CO2 emissions and fuel savings.The drop was attributed to fewer sharp manoeuvres and speed drops, as well as an overall reduction in the number of potential incidents and collisions avoided.The analysis was carried out on 15 million nautical miles-worth of data collected in open waters by 267 customer vessels – comprising tankers…

Finnlines announced it has taken delivery of Finncanopus, its second of two Superstar-series freight-passenger (ro-pax) vessels from shipbuilder China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Weihai.The newbuild is slated to enter service on Finnlines’ line between Finland and Sweden (Naantali–Långnäs–Kapellskär) in February 2024. The homeward voyage is expected to take 6–7 weeks as Finncanopus will be nearly fully loaded with freight and will call several ports before entering the Baltic Sea.Finncanopus is the final vessel of Finnlines EUR 500-million Green Newbuilding Program…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced over $653 million to fund 41 port improvement projects across the nation under the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP).The investments—part of the largest dedicated funding for ports and waterways in history, nearly $17 billion through the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—are intended to help grow capacity and increase efficiency at coastal seaports, Great Lakes ports and inland…

Finnlines on Wednesday held a naming ceremony in Naantali for its first of two new freight-passenger Superstar vessels, Finnsirius.The new ro-pax vessel, part of Finnlines €500-million Green Investment Program, was built by China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Weihai, China.“Finnsirius is Finnlines’ new eco-efficient flagship, designed specifically for the fast-paced freight transport route between Finland and Sweden. At the same time, Finnsirius offers upgraded services and more travel comfort than the previous generation of ro-pax vessels.

Finland-based marine technology group Wärtsilä will supply an integrated hybrid propulsion system for two new world’s first methanol-fuelled hybrid RoRo vessels The ships are being built at the China Merchants Jinling shipyard (Weihai) Co., Ltd for the Swedish shipping company Stena RoRo. The ships will operate in the Stena Line Irish Sea system. Each vessel will be equipped with two Wärtsilä 32M multi-fuel engines capable of operating on methanol fuel and with ammonia-ready notation.

Finnlines announced it has taken delivery of Finnsirius, the first in a series of two Superstar hybrid freight-passenger (ro-pax) vessels built by China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Weihai, China.The vessel will enter service on Finnlines’ Finland–Sweden (Naantali–Långnäs–Kapellskär) line from September 2023, followed by the series' second vessel, Finncanopus, expected to be delivered by the end of this year.The two ships—part of Finnlines' €500 million green newbuilding program comprising both ro-pax and ro-ro vessels—are equipped with air lubrication…

The Poseidon Principles provide a platform for financing shipping’s sustainable future, but the technical guidance underpinning the initiative remains under scrutiny.In July 2023, the International Maritime Organization’s Maritime Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) will consider revising the UN agency’s strategy on greenhouse gas emissions from ships. Moving on from a current target to reduce CO2 emissions from ships by at least 50% by 2050, based on 2008 levels,  influential administrations seek to accelerate towards net-zero or even zero by 2050.

The Poseidon Principles provide a platform for financing shipping’s sustainable future, but the technical guidance underpinning the initiative remains under scrutiny.In July 2023, the International Maritime Organization’s Maritime Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) will consider revising the UN agency’s strategy on greenhouse gas emissions from ships. Moving on from a current target to reduce CO2 emissions from ships by at least 50% by 2050, based on 2008 levels, influential…

Maritime technology company Orca AI announced it has secured deals with U.S. Ro-Ro operators Liberty Maritime Corporation and American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier (ARC) to deploy its automated situational awareness platform across their respective fleets. Liberty was one of the early collaborators with Orca AI, deploying the first Orca AI unit on a US flag Ro-Ro vessel (Liberty Pride) in 2019.The platform, which is installed on Liberty’s ro-ro vessels and on ARC’s entire fleet, acts as a fully automatic watch-keeper, powered by computer vision and deep learning algorithms that detect, track and classify navigation-applicable targets that may pose a risk to the vessel.It is operational 24/7, prioritizes risk and presents it in a user-friendly interface.

CLdN announced one of its RoRo car carrier vessels is ready for its return to service after being fitted with a rotor sail wind propulsion system.The Luxembourg based company is the latest in a string of ship owners and operators to have turned to wind propulsion systems as a means to reduce fuel burn and emissions amid its journey to improve operational efficiency and its environmental footprint.Now fitted with two 35mx5m rotor sails, Delphine is the first vessel in the CLdN fleet to be fitted with the system and will return to service from Zeebrugge…

Norwegian maritime technology and equipment provider Kongsberg Maritime has secured an order from Grimaldi Group to supply engineering and technology for two new Roll-on/Roll-off(Ro-Ro) vessels. The vessels, which will be built at China Merchant Jinling Shipyard, are scheduled for delivery in 2025.Kongsberg Maritime will supply marine automation system and Auto Chief 600 propulsion control systems, hybrid systems, converters, battery energy storage of 5MWh, battery management system, maneuvering, and propulsion systems.

Finnlines will make major investments in its route between Sweden and mainland Finland via Åland during 2023 as the freight and passenger shipping company continues to bounce back from the pandemic slowdown.The company announced on Tuesday that it is introducing two new Superstar cargo-passenger vessels as part of general plans for increasing passenger comfort on the Kapellskär–Långnäs–Naantali route, with the first ro-pax vessel set to start operating on the route in autumn 2023.The new vessels Finnsirius and Finncanopus are part of Finnlines EUR 500 million investment program…

A keel laying ceremony was held Friday for Finnsirius, the first of two ro-pax vessels being built for Finnlines at China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Weihai, China.Scheduled to enter service in 2023, Finnsirius and its sister vessel Finncanopus will operate on the Finland–Sweden route where Finnlines has sailed since 1997. The ports of call are Naantali in mainland Finland, Långnäs on the Åland Islands and Kapellskär in Sweden.Each combined passenger-cargo vessel will have capacity for about 300 trucks, 200 cars and 1,100 passengers.

Crowley Maritime Corporation announced it has managed the first vessel acquisition under its contract to help recapitalize a sealift fleet with the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD).In 2021, Crowley was awarded a multi-year vessel acquisition and management (VAM) contract to help recapitalize MARAD's Ready Reserve Force (RRF). It is now spearheading the acquisition and conversion of two vehicle carriers from American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier Group in collaboration with Stena RoRo, Serco and LCE (Life Cycle Engineering).The first vessel to be acquired, Honor, will be followed by Freedom.

American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier Group Inc. (ARC) said it recently reflagged two ships to the U.S.-flag fleet. The two vessels, ARC Commitment and ARC Defender, were reflagged with the U.S. Coast Guard to American-flag registry in Jacksonville, Fla. in December 2021 and January 2022 respectively.Both ships are enrolled in the Maritime Security Program (MSP), the Congressional maritime readiness program that maintains a modern, active fleet of U.S.-flag, privately-owned ships…

China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Weihai, China has cut first steel for Finncanopus, the second of two Superstar ro-pax vessels ordered by Finnlines.Construction of the series' first vessel, Finnsirius, started earlier this year, and keel-laying is scheduled to take place in April 2022. So-called mock-ups have been built of cabins, as well as public spaces, to check and test the quality and fine-tune details.Freight drivers, who are frequent travelers on the Finland–Sweden line…

The fifth in a series of 12 hybrid ro-ro ships for the Grimaldi Group has been christened in the port of Catania.Built by the Chinese Jinling shipyard in Nanjing, Eco Catania and its sister vessels already in service in the Mediterranean are part of the GG5G (Grimaldi Green 5th Generation) class, which rank among the largest and most eco-friendly ro-ro ships in the world.With a transport capacity of more than 500 trailers, these green giants are able to halve CO2 emissions compared to the previous generation of ro-ro ships operated by the Grimaldi Group…

The Nanjing Jinling shipyard in China has laid the keel for the second of three new hybrid ro-ro vessels it is building for Finnlines.The construction of MS Finneco II is proceeding, and the keel laying ceremony was held on May 12, Finnlines said.The vessel is part of Finnlines’ €500 million ($607 million) newbuilding program which includes two eco-sustainable ro-pax vessels in addition to the three hybrid ro-ro vessels.“Finnlines has made major investments in renewing and developing its fleet into more sustainable, using the latest technologies and green innovations available.

Finnlines’ first of three new hybrid ro-ro vessels was launched at the Nanjing Jinling Shipyard in China on Monday. The vessel, Finneco I, will start sailing on the Finnish shipping company’s Biscay–North Sea–Baltic Sea service at the turn of the year. The series’ second and third vessels, Finneco II and Finneco III, will be delivered in 2022.The new vessels are 238 meters long with a cargo capacity of 5,800 lane meters. Additionally, car decks have a capacity of 5,800 square meters and about 520 TEU on the weather deck.

Norwegian/Swedish shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen said it will reactivate another three vessels, bringing to 12 number of ships it is planning to return to service after placing 15 car carriers in cold lay-up due to difficult market conditions amid the COVID-19 outbreak last spring.The company said the trio is expected to resume operations in June and July amid growing demand together with rising rates and lack of capacity in the time charter market. The three ro-ro vessels join nine already in the process of being reactivated from earlier this year…

The sinking of the Estonia ro-ro passenger ferry stands out as one of the most disastrous accidents in modern times. The tragedy claimed 852 lives and the wreck was declared a marine graveyard. At first glance, the sinking seems to have been triggered by a single technical failure only minutes before the point of no return, with no warning signs. The first objective of this review was to verify whether the pattern of typical major accidents can be found in the Estonia disaster. The usual pattern involves multiple human errors combined with an immature organizational culture.

A new patented and class-approved on-top system for intelligent engine management promises a 10% reduction in a ship’s fuel consumption with a payback period less than 18 months, says the solution's developer Frugal Technologies. To date, the system, Frugal Propulsion, has been installed and tested on four cargo ships at different shipping companies, resulting in average fuel consumption savings of 10-15% after a run-in period. For many feeder ships, ro/ro vessels, chemical tankers and ferries will correspond to 2-4 tonnes of fuel per day.In fact…

Finnlines' newbuilding program is progressing as planned despite the COVID-19 pandemic, with first steel cut Wednesday for its second new hybrid ro-ro vessel at the Chinese Nanjing Jinling shipyard.Finnlines’ ongoing €500 million ($593 million) newbuilding program includes three green hybrid ro-ro vessels as well as two eco-friendly Superstar ro-pax vessels. The ro-ro vessels are expected to be delivered during 2021–2022 and the Superstar ro-pax vessels are set to start in traffic…