Hybrid Tanker Tern Island to Operate Emissions-free in Gothenburg

A first-of-its-kind hybrid-electric tanker is due to arrive to the Port of Gothenburg, where it will emit no greenhouse gases or carbon particulates during port operations.

Swedish tanker operator Terntank's Tern Island is equipped with new electric power supply hybrid system, including a battery pack, on-shore power supply and a DC-Link system which is reported to be able to reduce its auxiliary energy consumption during port operations by -99%. The shore power connection has been developed together with the Port of Gothenburg, which is said to be the first port in the world that can connect tankers to electricity.

Furthermore, Tern Island, is 100% biofuel compatible. The main engine, boiler and auxiliary engine are designed to reduce the environmental impact and perform safe operations running on biofuels. By combining the optimized hull and rudder design with dual fuel capability, when utilizing 30% biogas, in comparison to a same sized conventional vessel, Tern Island reduces emission by: -70% of CO2 and almost eliminated the emissions of sulphur oxide (-99%), of particle emission, (-99%) and nitrogen oxide (-97%)

Designed by Terntank and Kongsberg Maritime CM AS and delivered on December 15, 2021 at China Merchants Jinling Shipyard, Yangzhou, Dingheng Co. Ltd., the vessel is the first of a series of two 15,000 DWT chemical and product tankers in the Terntank Hybrid Solution series. The vessel combines a dual-fuel powered engine that uses liquefied biogas (LBG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The Hybrid Solution of Tern Island does not only enable performance on fossil free port operations, but also enables peak shaving to reduce the emissions even further. The battery packs also provides an energy reserve for power generation, limiting unnecessary parallel running of generators and provides a blackout prevention function that keeps the electrical network alive.

Tern Island has a cargo capacity of 16,500 cubic meters in 14 epoxy coated tanks. It will be commercially operated by the Finnish North European Oil Trade (NEOT) in the Baltic Sea area and will be included in a pool along with other vessels from Terntank.

The shore power supply is part of Gothenburg’s Energy Port initiative, which is the first of its kind in the world. When complete it will enable a reduction in carbon emissions from vessels in the port by 1,800 tonnes per year. Gothenburg is not the only port that is investing in shore power supply Gävle is finalizing their shore power connection in June 2022 and Port of Porvoo is in the planning stage. Making the potential of shore power related CO2 emission savings even greater.  

Claes Möller, chief executive officer of Tärntank Ship Management, noted, “Today we achieved a milestone as Tern Island becomes the world's first shore-connected tanker, successfully enabling port operations with zero emissions. This would not have been possible without the good collaboration with NEOT, allowing us to build such a ground breaking vessel and with the Port of Gothenburg, which facilitated the development of this solution as the first port in the world offering tankers an option to connect to electricity.”