EU Backs Green Ferries Conversion
Maritime transport in the Baltic Sea to become greener with EU support
The EU's TEN-T Program will provide more than €2 million to back the upgrade of two ferries navigating in the Baltic Sea to the mixed use of electricity and fuel. The new hybrid propulsion system will help to reduce the environmental impact of ships, as well as secure the operability and stability of the vessels.
The new EU regulation requires all vessels travelling in European waters to cut down the emission of sulphur oxide (SO) from 2015 onwards to decrease environmental pollution.
This project will retrofit two RoPax vessels that link Rødby, Denmark and Puttgarden, Germany with a hybrid propulsion system using electricity and fuel. Thanks to size-efficient bunker consumption, SOX and particle matter from the ships’ exhaust gases will be reduced by up to 99% and 88%, respectively. Bunker consumption savings will result in about 15% less CO2 emissions.
The project was selected for EU funding with the assistance of external experts under the TEN-T Multi-Annual Call 2013, priority Motorways of the Sea. Its implementation will be monitored by INEA, the European Commission's Innovation and Networks Executive Agency.
The project, to be implemented and managed by Scandlines Deutschland GmbH and Scandlines Danmark ApS, acting as maritime and port/terminal operators, is to be completed by December 2015.
EU will contribute €2,277,660 to the project.