Promas Lite System Contracted on 4 Finnlines Ships

Rolls-Royce has been contracted to install its Promas Lite propulsion system on four Finnlines ships, all to be delivered later this year. Promas Lite is an integrated propeller and rudder system designed to increase efficiency, specifically for retrofitting to existing ships.

Finnlines is part of the Grimaldi Group, which has over three years of experience with Rolls-Royce on a series of projects to re-blade propellers to improve efficiency. The efficiency gains and fuel saving benefits created by these projects has led to this latest contract to equip four Finnlines vessels.

In many previous Promas Lite upgrades, the primary goal has been to achieve fuel savings for the customer. Finnlines, however, wished to maximise the efficiency of its vessels while also ensuring the new engine configuration maintained the speeds required on its routes.  Successfully striking this balance was key to securing the £3.8m order.

Typical fuel savings for Promas Lite range from 5 to 15 per cent, depending on the type of operation and the performance of the existing propeller. For example, the total efficiency improvement in the case of Nordlink, one of the Finnline vessels, is predicted to range from 19-21% at 20 knots with an estimated payback period of two years. The other three vessels have a speed guarantee.

Emanuele Grimaldi, President and CEO, Finnlines Plc said: “Environmental compliance and cost efficient operations are key factors in the success of Finnlines. The installation of the Promas Lite systems on our modern RO-RO vessels is a major step in the implementation of our strategy. The extensive experience that Rolls-Royce has in this area, together with the retrofit services the company can provide, will greatly help us during the engineering and installation phases of this program."

Delivering the upgrades for all four shipsets will take place between October and December of this year.